Dollar Supply Rises after CBN Lifts Forex Ban on 43 Items
By Zeenat Sambo
Dollar supply in Nigeria soared after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) scrapped restrictions on buying foreign currency required to import 43 items, in a bid to stem the naira’s 40 per cent rout this year.
According to Chapel Hill Denham, a Lagos- based investment bank, liquidity at the investors and exporters window increased more than five-fold to $407.7 million on Thursday after the central bank’s announcement.
The naira gained for the first time in three weeks in the parallel market Friday, said Umar Salisu, a trader who compiles the data.
CBN had Thursday announced the lifting of foreign exchange restrictions it placed on importers of 43 items eight years ago.
In a statement signed by its Director, Corporate Communications, Dr. Isa AbdulMumin, the apex bank said this is a significant to the foreign exchange market policy.
According to the apex bank, this action will boost liquidity in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market and intervene from time to time, stating that interventions will decrease as liquidity improves.
The list which was originally 41 was updated to include two more items.
The items are Rice, Cement, Margarine, Palm kernel, Palm oil products, Vegetable oils
Meat and processed meat products, Vegetables and processed vegetable products, Poultry and processed poultry products, Tinned fish in sauce (Geisha)/sardine, Cold rolled steel sheets, Galvanized steel sheets, Roofing sheets, Wheelbarrows and Head pans.
Others include, Metal boxes and containers,
Enamelware, Steel drums, Steel pipes, Wire rods (deformed and not deformed), Iron rods, Reinforcing bars, Wire mesh, Steel nails, Security and razor fencing and poles,
Wood particle boards and panels, Wood fiberboards and panels, Plywood boards and panels, Wooden doors, Toothpicks, Glass and glassware, Kitchen utensils, Tableware,Tiles-vitrified and ceramic, Gas cylinders, Woven fabrics, Clothes, Plastic and rubber products, Polypropylene granules,
Cellophane wrappers and bags, Soap and cosmetics, Tomatoes/tomato pastes, as well as Eurobond/foreign currency bond/share purchases.
