Abuja, Oct. 12, 2923 – The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday lifted its foreign exchange restriction to importers of rice, cement and 41 other items placed on ban since 2015.
 A statement by Dr. Isa AbdulMumin, the CBN Director of Corporate Communications, on Thursday said “importers of all the 43 items previously restricted by the 2015 Circular referenced TED/FEM/FPC/GEN/01/010 and its addendums were now allowed to purchase foreign exchange in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.
The items 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, Galvanised steel sheets, Roofing sheets, Wheelbarrows, Head pans, Metal boxes and containers and Enamelware.
Others include Steel drums, Steel pipes, Wire rods (deformed and not deformed), Iron rods and reinforcing bars, Wire mesh, Steel nails Security and razor wire.
Also banned were wood particle boards and panels
Wood fibre boards and panels, Plywood boards and panels, Wooden doors, Furniture, 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 paste, Eurobond/foreign currency bond/ share purchases, dairy/milk and maize.
In 2015, when the CBN introduced the policy, it said the policy was in the effort to sustain the stability of the foreign exchange market and ensure the efficient utilization of foreign exchange. (GBN)
