Ban on 41 item remains —CBN

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday said it’s policy prohibiting the use of officially sourced foreign exchange to import any of the items contained in the list of 41 remains in force.

In a statement issued by its spokesman, Isaac Okorafor, CBN noted that “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,” the apex bank said.

Okorafor said the eports appear to be a misinterpretation of a circular titled: REVISED DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS FOR ALLOCATION OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE FOR SMALL-SCALE IMPORTATION dated May 03, 2017, to the effect that importers of items classified as “ineligible for Forex” with transactions value of $20,000 and below per quarter shall now qualify for allocation of foreign exchange subject to the completion of form Q”.

He warned that the provision does not refer to the 41 items that remain ineligible for foreign exchange sale in the Nigerian Forex market.

Meanwhile, banks and other authorised dealers again failed to fully subscribe to the $150 million offered by CBN on Thursday.

Dealers picked only $43.5 million, which represents 29 per cent offered for subscription in the wholesale segment of the foreign exchange market.

Confirming this development, Okorafor, reaffirmed the Bank’s position to sustain the intervention with a view to making foreign exchange available for all genuine transactions eligible for foreign exchange through the CBN window.

He also allayed the fear over the dwindling subscription by authorized dealers noting that the development merely goes to confirm the extent of liquidity in the foreign exchange market and the determination of the CBN to sustain the intervention aimed at ensuring stability in the market.

Operators in the Bureau D’ Change segment of the market picked the $20,000 offered to service the low end foreign exchange users.