CBN removes fertilizer from forex transactions, goes tough on defaulters

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Monday, removed fertilizer from products for which foreign exchange can be accessed for importation.

The CBN, by the action, has added fertilizer to the list of 42 items classified as ‘not valid for foreign exchange’ in the Nigerian forex market.

The apex bank disclosed this on Monday in a circular on ‘Inclusion of some imported goods and services on the list of items not valid for forex in the Nigerian forex market.’

It however added that it would ensure that transaction (Form M) on fertiliser “for which payments are outstanding are settled at the appropriate settlement dates.”

Also in another circular, the CBN said it would from now blacklist any corporate or entity that goes against its restriction on items listed on ‘not valid for for foreign exchange’.

Titled ‘Foreign exchange restriction on the importation of 42 items’, the CBN noted in the circular that, as part of its development of employment generation and inclusive growth in Nigeria, it on July 2015 restricted the availability of forex to the importation of 41 items, which could be competitively produced within the economy.

“The policy has resulted in massive investments and the establishment of cottage industries that now engage in the production of the restricted items across the country. The growth and employment benefits have been phenomenal,” it said.

Read also: CBN to set up MFB for Agric, SMEs

According to the CBN, unfortunately, trade information available to it indicated the circumvention of the policy as the restricted items were being dumped in the country, adding that the implications are that the growth and employment benefits arising from the policy may be eroded if not checked.

“The CBN views this development with trepidation. The Economic Intelligence Unit of the bank in collaboration with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission would commence immediate investigation of the accounts of the corporate and entities engaged in this unwholesome act with a view to visiting severe sanctions on all the culprits.

“Such sanctions would, among others, include blacklisting the corporate and their directors; closure of their bank accounts; and restricting them from maintaining any bank account in any bank under the CBN remit. Banks that provided their platforms for such economic abuses would also be appropriately sanctioned”, the circular reads.

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