Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele has disclosed that it will deny foreign exchange (Forex) for importation of more items at both commercial banks and the apex bank levels.
Emefiele stated this in Abuja at the opening of a two-day retreat for ministers’ designates and top government officials at the Presidential Villa yesterday.Speaking, he said the authorities would also not renege on President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive to CBN to stop issuing Forex for food imports into Nigeria.
Specifically, President Buhari had last week in Daura, Katsina State, directed the CBN to stop giving foreign exchange for food imports into the country.On the implementation of the President’s directive on Forex, Emefiele said, “Mr. President’s comment on issuing of Forex to food importers into the country, is in the logic of CBN management’s foreign exchange policies that we started since 2016.
“We started with about 41 food and non-food items, because we believe that those items could be produced in the country. As we stand today, there are about 43 items on the list and I will say that substantially most of them are food items. “If we have a food item that could be produced in the country, why should we waste scare foreign exchange importing those items into the country, when those can be produced in the country?” Read more