The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, said Wednesday’s circular on revised documentation requirements for allocation of foreign exchange for small-scale importation did not mean a reversal of its policy barring allocation of forex to some 41 items in the country.
“The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been drawn to media reports to the effect that the CBN has reversed part of its policy on some import items ineligible for FOREX.
“We wish to state that these reports and their interpretations are wrong. The CBN has not reversed its policy on the 41 items ineligible for forex through the Nigerian forex market,” CBN spokesperson, Isaac Okorafor said in a statement on Thursday.
Mr. Okorafor said the reports appear to have misinterpreted the contents of the circular on importers of items classified as “ineligible for FOREX.”
The circular also said “transactions value of $20,000 and below per quarter shall now qualify for allocation of foreign exchange subject to the completion of Form Q”.
Some of the affected items include rice, cement, margarine, palm kernel, palm oil products, vegetable oils, meat and processed meat products, vegetables and process vegetable products, poultry, tomatoes/tomato paste, soap and cosmetics and clothes.
Other items include private airplanes/jets, Indian incense, tinned fish in sauce, cold rolled steel sheets, galvanized steel sheets, roofing sheets, wheelbarrows, head pans, metal boxes/containers, enamelware, steel drums and pipes, wire mesh, steel nails, wood particle boards and panels.
Equally affected were security and razor wire, wood particle and fibre boards and panels, wooden doors, furniture, toothpicks, glass/glassware, kitchen utensils, tableware, tiles (vitrified, ceramics), textiles, wooden fabrics, plastic/rubber products, polypropylene granules and cellophane wrappers.
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Credit: All Africa