The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has added fertilizer to the list of 41 items not eligible to allocate foreign exchange (forex) for importation.
The CBN did on Monday in a statement from the apex bank’s office.
The statement signed by Ahmed Umar, director, trade and exchange department of the CBN, said the list of the 42 items became effective from December 7, 2018.
The bank, however, assured all authorised dealers and the general public that all outstanding form M requests made for fertiliser before December 7 will be honoured by the bank.
TheCable had reported that the bank was deliberating the possibilities of adding more items to the list of items not eligible for forex.
Godwin Emefiele, governor of the CBN, while speaking at the 53rd Annual Bankers Dinner in Lagos two weeks ago, said the bank had recommendations to add more to the list of 41 items drafted in 2016.
He said the bank, based on internal research, has received a recommendation to do so, following a drop of the country’s monthly import bill from $665.4 million in January 2015, to $160.4 million as at October 2018.
“Based on our internal research conducted at the Central Bank of Nigeria, there is strong support that the recovery of our economy from the recession may have been much weaker or even negative, without the implementation of the restriction on 41 items,” Emefiele had said.
“Our research supports the conclusion that the combination of the restriction on 41 items along with other measures imposed by the fiscal and monetary authorities has helped to promote the recovery.
“In fact, recommendations are being made to the CBN that the list of 41 items be expanded to include other additional items that can be locally produced.”
The 42 items on the CBN list include:
Rice
Cement
Margarine
Palm kernel/Palm oil products/vegetables oils
Meat and processed meat products
Vegetables and processed vegetable products
Poultry chicken, eggs, turkey
Private airplanes/jets
Indian incense
Tinned fish in sauce(Geisha)/sardines
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 and reinforcing bard
Wire mesh
Steel nails
Security and razor wine
Wood particle boards and panels
Wood Fibre Boards and Panels
Plywood boards and panels
Wooden doors
Toothpicks
Glass and Glassware
Kitchen utensils
Tableware
Tiles-vitrified and ceramic
Textiles
Woven fabrics
Clothes
Plastic and rubber products, polypropylene granules, cellophane wrappers
Soap and cosmetics
Tomatoes/tomato pastes
Eurobond/foreign currency bond/ share purchases
Fertiliser