The Central Bank of Nigeria has lifted the foreign exchange restrictions placed on 43 items eight years ago.
CBN’s Director of Corporate Communications, Dr. Isa AbdulMumin, issued a statement, in a circular released on Thursday emphasizing the importance of this move in boosting liquidity within the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.
The restrictions on these 43 items were first introduced in a circular published by the CBN in June 2015.
The list included various imported goods and services that were deemed ineligible for foreign exchange in the Nigerian foreign currency market.
The items on the list include:
- 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
- Head pans
- 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
- Eurobond/foreign currency bond/share purchases
This decision was part of an effort to manage the country’s foreign exchange reserves and balance its trade.
Under the new guidelines, the CBN emphasizes a “Willing Buyer – Willing Seller” principle, highlighting its commitment to a market-driven exchange rate system.
The CBN has also urged participants to reference foreign exchange rates from official platforms, such as the CBN website, FMDQ, and other recognized trading systems.
To stabilize the market, the CBN has pledged to periodically boost liquidity in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market, with the frequency of these interventions decreasing as market stability improves.
The CBN has set a goal to achieve a single FX market, and consultations with market participants are ongoing to achieve this objective.
This policy change is expected to bring significant shifts in the Nigerian foreign exchange market and promote transparency and credibility in FX rates.
