- At an average of $300 million spent on 41 items on its restriction list from subsidised official foreign exchange window, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) may have expended an estimated $12.3 billion between January and May, this year to subsidise imports of finished goods, the Guardian reports.
- The Guardian also reports that a blame game is on between the CBN and members of the Organised Private Sector (OPS).
- While the apex bank alleges non-remittance of forex earnings by OPS members who retain such in foreign domiciled accounts thereby mounting demand pressure on the bank for forex, the OPS says the CBN’s action encourages investors and manufacturers to pay for inefficiencies in governance and management of resources.
- Indeed, members of the OPS and manufacturers differed with the apex bank on the classification and definition of some of the products restricted from access to forex market, stating that some of the products are raw materials used in the course of production in their factories.
- Similarly, the manufacturers faulted access to the forex market by fuel importers while restricting members of the real sector.
- Maintaining its stance on its forex policy, the CBN sought understanding from members of the OPS, explaining that there is a yawning gap in the demand-supply chain of the nation’s foreign exchange earnings, therefore necessitating an adjustment on the demand side by reducing the pressure from importers of finished goods into the country.
- Source – Guardian
[Forex Ban] CBN and OPS Point Fingers at Each Other Whilst Dollar Hits N234
