JUST-IN: CBN Lifts FX Restrictions On 43 Items Banned By Emefiele

Nine years after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under its former Governor, Godwin Emefiele, placed restriction on access to the official foreign exchange market for the importation of some 43 items, the restrictions have now been removed by the apex bank.

This was contained in a statement released by the apex bank and signed by its Director of Corporate Communications, Dr Isa Abdulmumin, on Thursday.

The statement also assured that the apex bank will continue to intervene at the official foreign exchange market to meet the rising demand.

Although the value of the naira has remained stable at around N760-N770 to the dollar at the official end of the market, the demand pressure at the parallel market had seen it spiral to over N1,030 to the dollar as at Wednesday.

The statement said, “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 Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will continue to promote orderliness and professional conduct by all participants in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market to ensure market forces determine exchange rates on a Willing Buyer – Willing Seller principle.

“The CBN reiterates that the prevailing Foreign Exchange (FX) rates should be referenced from platforms such as the CBN website, FMDQ, and other recognised or appointed trading systems to promote price discovery, transparency, and credibility in the FX rates.

“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.

“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.”