The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Olayemi Cardoso Nigeria lost a total of $1.4bn in 8 years over CBN’s ban on 43 items.
Cardoso disclosed this at the 58th Annual Bankers’ Dinner organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) on Friday in Lagos.
According to him, the 43 items were never explicitly prohibited from importation or sale in Nigeria.
He, however, explained that the apex bank had implemented restrictions on accessing foreign exchange for the importation of these items.
Cardoso emphasised that the issue of trade policy, specifically the importation and sale of the 43 items, was primarily within the domain of the fiscal authorities, not the CBN.
This distinction, he said, was important because it clarifies that the CBN’s decision to lift the foreign exchange restrictions on these items was not intended to encroach upon the responsibilities of other government agencies.
Recall that the CBN had in a circular in June 2015, published a list of imported goods and services that will not be eligible for foreign exchange in the Nigerian foreign currency market.
The list which was originally 41 was updated to include two more items.
But the CBN precisely on October 12 2023, announced that it had lifted the ban on the issuance of foreign exchange for the importation of rice, vegetable oil, and poultry products among other 43 items.
Cardoso said, “Allow me to provide further clarification on the issue of the 43 items.
“Firstly, it is important to note that these items were never outrightly banned by the government.
“The CBN had imposed restrictions on their access to foreign exchange in the official market.
“However, these restrictions resulted in increased demand for foreign exchange in the parallel market, leading to the depreciation of the exchange rate in that segment of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market and widening the premium between the parallel and official market.’’
Cardoso said studies had shown that during the period when the 43 items were restricted, there was a 51.0 per cent increase in trade evasion by importers accessing the foreign exchange market.
According to him, this resulted in a revenue drop of approximately $1.4 billion, or $275 million annually, between 2015 and 2019.
