
The Central Bank of Nigeria policy or directive on removing some imported goods from the list of items valid for Forex Exchange in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market should not be misunderstood as Banning of the goods for importation by importers in Nigeria. It is important to note that these 42 import items or commodities are not banned or forbidden for importation by the Federal Government, Nigerian Custom Services and the Central Bank of Nigeria.
What the CBN policy means regarding the 42 import items banned for Forex Exchange is that, importers who import these goods can no longer buy foreign currencies from the official windows (CBN, Commercial banks) to pay their suppliers abroad. Rather, they will have to look for forex(dollars, pounds etc.) from the parallel market or Bureau De change to pay for their imported goods.
What the CBN policy means regarding the 42 import items banned for Forex Exchange is that, importers who import these goods can no longer buy foreign currencies from the official windows (CBN, Commercial banks) to pay their suppliers abroad. Rather, they will have to look for forex(dollars, pounds etc.) from the parallel market or Bureau De change to pay for their imported goods.
The list of the 42 import items includes;
- Fertilizers
- Rice
- Cement
- Margarine
- Palm kernel /palm oil products/vegetable oils
- Meat and processed meat products
- Vegetables and processed meat 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 fiber boards and panels
- Plywood boards and panels
- Wooden doors
- Furniture
- Toothpicks
- Glass and glassware
- Kitchen utensils
- Tableware
- Tiles-vitrified and ceramic
- Textiles
- Woven fabrics
- Cloths
- Plastic and rubber products, polypropylene granules, cellophane wrappers
- Soap and cosmetics
- Tomatoes/tomato pastes
- Euro bond/foreign currency bond/share purchases