Is CBN’s Restricted Access to FX Good for Business? List of Items not valid for Foriegn Exchange

According to the Central Bank of Ni­geria (CBN), the decision to bar 40 prod­ucts from having access to the forex window is aimed at encouraging local production of products, where the country has comparative advantage.

The implication is that the policy will help conserve foreign reserves and facilitate the resuscitation of domestic industries as the limited foreign reserves will be used to import raw materials as well as plants and machinery for production rather than finished goods and thus positively impact employment generation.

For the avoidance of doubt, the importation of the items are not banned, thus importers desirous of importing same shall do so using their funds without any recourse to the Nigerian foreign exchange markets.

‎An upside of this is that Trading Companies will be able to import items that were previously banned such as Furniture and Textiles and be less able to compete with local manufactures due to Exchange Rate and High Tariffs.

The downside ‎is the lack of political will to place a full ban on items the country should have exclusive right to produce without competition from imports such as Toothpicks!

List of Items not Valid for Foreign Exchange at the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Window

Rice
Cement
Margarine
Palm Kernel Palm Oil Products/ Vegetable Oils
Meat and Processed Meat Products
Vegetables and Processed Vegetable Products
Poultry- Chicken, eggs, Turkey
Private Airplanes/Jets
Incense
Tinned Fish in sauce (Geisha)/Sardines and Fish
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 an Reinforcing Bars
Wire Mesh
Steel Nails
Security and Razor Wire
Wood Particle Boards and Panels.
Wood Fiber Boards and Panels
Plywood Boards and Panels
Wooden Doors
Furniture
Toothpicks
Glass and Glassware
Kitchen Utensils
Table wares
Tiles- Vitrified and Ceramic
Textiles
Woven Fabric
Clothes
Plastic and Rubber Products, Cellophane Wrappers and Finished Aluminium Cans
Soap and Cosmetics
Tomatoes/Tomato Pastes
Euro bond/ Foreign Currency Bond/ Share Purchases.


Linda is a Blogger and Financial Analyst @LastPrice.com
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