CBN promises forex market intervention, lifts restriction on 43 items (SEE LIST)

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday promised to intervene in the foreign exchange regularly in a bid to boost its liquidity.

In a statement by its Director of Corporate Communication, Isa AbdulMumin, the apex bank also lifted the restriction placed on 43 items from accessing forex in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window in 2015.

The decision was aimed at addressing the challenges associated with the unification of all segments of the foreign exchange market.

The CBN announced on June 14 that all forex windows have been collapsed into the I&E window in a bid to achieve the desired changes in the operations of the forex market.

In the latest statement, the apex bank promised to promote orderliness and professional conduct by all participants in the foreign exchange market.

READ ALSO: Forex market liquidity drops by $700m in July, as LCCI calls for more CBN intervention

The statement read: “As part of its responsibility to ensure price stability, the CBN will boost liquidity in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market by interventions from time to time.

“As market liquidity improves, these CBN interventions will gradually decrease.

“Importers of all the 43 items previously restricted by the 2015 Circular referenced TED/FEM/FPC/GEN/01/010 and its addendums are now allowed to purchase foreign exchange in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.

“The CBN is committed to accelerating efforts to clear the FX backlog with existing participants and will continue dialogue with stakeholders to address the issue.

“The CBN has set as one of its goals the attainment of a single FX market. Consultation is ongoing with market participants to achieve this goal.”

List of the banned items

 

• Rice
• Cement
• Margarine
• Palm kernel
• Palm oil products
• Vegetable oils
• Meat and processed meat products
• Vegetables and processed vegetable products
• Poultry and processed poultry products
• Tinned fish in sauce (Geisha)/sardine
• Cold rolled steel sheets
• Galvanized steel sheets
• Roofing sheets
• Wheelbarrows
• Head pans
• Metal boxes and containers
• Enamelware
• Steel drums
• Steel pipes
• Wire rods (deformed and not deformed)
• Iron rods
• Reinforcing bars
• Wire mesh
• Steel nails
• Security and razor fencing and poles
• Wood particle boards and panels
• Wood fiberboards and panels
• Plywood boards and panels
• Wooden doors
• Toothpicks
• Glass and glassware
• Kitchen utensils
• Tableware
• Tiles-vitrified and ceramic
• Gas cylinders
• Woven fabrics
• Clothes
• Plastic and rubber products
• Polypropylene granules
• Cellophane wrappers and bags
• Soap and cosmetics
• Tomatoes/tomato pastes
• Eurobond/foreign currency bond/ share purchases

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