The CBN Governor, Mr Godwin
Emefiele, at a news conference in Abuja, said the new measure to restrict importers
would prevent further depletion of the country’s foreign reserve.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, yesterday said that importers of rice, cement and other products will no longer access Foreign Exchange from CBN, banks and bureaux de change for such importation.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, yesterday said that importers of rice, cement and other products will no longer access Foreign Exchange from CBN, banks and bureaux de change for such importation.
He said the country was
spending huge amount to import things that could be produced locally, adding
that the apex bank would not continue to support the importation of such items
through the use of the hard earned foreign exchange. Some of the products
include margarine, palm kernel, palm oil products, meat and processed meat
products, vegetables, private airplanes and jets, Indian incense, tinned fish,
galvanised steel sheet, roofing sheet and furniture. He said: “Importers who
may want to continue importing these goods would have to sort their foreign
exchange from their own private sources.
The CBN will continue to be
vigilant around this policy, keep reviewing the list of items as it becomes
comfortable that these items can be produced locally if we apply ourselves
sufficiently.
Emefiele said the CBN was
forced to come up with the new policy to exclude importers of rice and 40 other
items from the foreign exchange market in order to save the nation’s economy.
Speaking to journalists in
Abuja, he said the time has come for Nigerians to decide what must be done to
realise the much-desired economic development, rather than making the nation a
dumping ground for other economies of the world.
The only way we can
encourage people who are producing rice to go back to the farms is to do what
we have done today. “How can we keep complaining about the depreciation of the
naira when all we do as a people is to import everything from ordinary Geisha
and toothpicks to even eggs? These are some of the fundamental reasons behind
the bank’s recent announcement.”
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