BREAKING: CBN Restores 43 Items Restricted From FX, Gives Reasons, Promises To Clear Forex Backlog

By Babatunde Solanke

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Thursday restored the 43 items previously prohibited from access to foreign exchange (FX).

The Director of Corporate Communications at CBN, Isa AbdulMumin, who made this disclosure in a statement issued on Thursday,  reiterated the apex bank’s  commitment to ending the foreign exchange crisis.

It added that it is working towards an FX backlog with existing participants and will continue dialogue with stakeholders to address the issue.

 “Importers of all the 43 items previously restricted by the 2015 Circular referenced TED/FEM/FPC/GEN/01/010, and its addendums are now allowed to purchase foreign exchange in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.

“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will continue to promote orderliness and professional conduct by all participants in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market to ensure market forces determine exchange rates on a Willing Buyer – Willing Seller principle.

“The CBN reiterates that the prevailing Foreign Exchange (FX) rates should be referenced from platforms such as the CBN website, FMDQ, and other recognised or appointed trading systems to promote price discovery, transparency, and credibility in the FX rates.

“As part of its responsibility to ensure price stability, the CBN will boost liquidity in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market by interventions from time to time. As market liquidity improves, these CBN interventions will gradually decrease.”

“The CBN is committed to accelerating efforts to clear the FX backlog with existing participants and will continue dialogue with stakeholders to address the issue.

“The CBN has set as one of its goals the attainment of a single FX market. Consultation is ongoing with market participants to achieve this goal. Participants and the general public are to be guided by the above”, AbdulMumin said in the statement.

Recall that since June 14 when CBN floated the Naira at the forex market, the country’s currency has continued to depreciate against the dollar.

While the Naira exchanged at N776.8/$1 at the official forex window on Wednesday, the parallel market stood at N1040/$1.