CBN Maintains Status Quo On 43 Banned Items Policy

Amid objections by stakeholders, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has maintained that the 43 non-eligible items banned from the Foreign Exchange market introduced under Godwin Emefiele’s leadership as CBN Governor remains banned.

Consequently, the items are not permitted to be funded from the Investors’ & Exporters’ I & E window, the apex bank maintained.

This development was contained in the Q&A document published by the central bank explaining the new Operational Changes to the Forex Market.

The report titled “Understanding the Operational Changes to the Forex Market” was published on its website.

“The status quo remains on the 43 non-eligible items. The items are not permitted to be funded from the I & E window” the CBN responded when asked that “Can the 43 Non-Eligible Items access FX at the I&E window”

It would be recalled that the CBN in a circular on June 24th, 2015 detailed that it had banned a list of 41 imported goods and services from accessing the official Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.

Over the years, the CBN has been modifying this list by including more items and in 2020 added maize/corn, which is a widely-consumed staple food in the country.

Several stakeholders in the economy have called for the ban to be lifted claiming it has done more harm to the economy than good.