The Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) has clarified its new policy action, which lifted a ban on items not eligible for foreign exchange, stating that the 41 import items it declared ineligible for forex transaction in 2015 remain so.
In a circular issued yesterday, CBN said, “Importers of items classified as not valid for forex with transactions value of $20,000 and below per quarter shall now qualify for allocation of foreign exchange.
“The CBN has not reversed its policy on the ineligibility of the 41 items for forex sale through the interbank forex market,” Isaac Okorafor, the bank’s spokesman said in a statement.
The bank stated that “importers of items classified as ‘Not valid 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”.
“This provision does not refer to the 41 items that remain ineligible for forex sale in the interbank market.”
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo said earlier in the week that the federal government was nudging the CBN to replace some of the 41 items not eligible for foreign exchange in a bid to stabilise the forex market.
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