BREAKING: CBN confirms 43 banned items policy remains, not eligible for forex in I&E window

The Central Bank has said that the status quo remains on the 43 non-eligible items banned from the forex market under Godwin Emefiele.

The items are not permitted to be funded from the I & E window.

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

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

What CBN is saying: In the part of the Q&A report which asked  “Can the 43 Non-Eligble Items access FX at the I&E window” the response was “The status quo remains on the 43 non-eligible items. The items are not permitted to be funded from the I & E window.”

This confirms the central bank will continue to implement the ban on the 43 items suggesting the government will continue with import substitution as they seek to keep protecting the local market.

Flash Back: The central bank released a circular on June 24th, 2015 detailing 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.

More to follow…..