The Central Bank of Nigeria on Thursday finally lifted the foreign exchange restriction ban placed by the former President, Mr Muhammadu Buhari on the importation of 43 items.
The apex bank lifted the restriction in a statement issues by the Director, Corporate Communications Department, Isa AbdulMumin.
The Alex bank, in a statement, said the 43 items are now allowed to purchase foreign exchange in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.
To sustain the stability of the naira and ensure the efficient utilisation of forex, the CBN excluded importers of 41 items from accessing forex at the exchange markets to encourage local production and modified the list subsequently to 43 items.
The items are:
Rice
Cement
Margarine
Palm kernel/palm oil products/vegetables oils
Meat and processed meat products
Vegetables and processed
vegetable products
Poultry – chicken, eggs, turkey
Private airplanes/jets
Indian incense
Tinned fish in sauce (geisha)/sardines
Cold-rolled steel sheets
Galvanised steel sheets
Roofing sheets
Wheelbarrows
Head pans
Metal boxes and containers
Enamelware
Steel drums
Steel pipes
Wire rods (deformed and not deformed)
Iron rods and reinforcing bars
Wire mesh
Steel nails
Security and razor wire
Wood particle boards and panels
Wood fibre boards and panels
Plywood boards and panels
Wooden doors
Furniture
Toothpicks
Glass and Glassware
Kitchen utensils
Tableware
Tiles – vitrified and ceramic
Textiles
Woven fabrics
Clothes
Plastic and rubber products, polypropylene granules, cellophane wrappers
Soap and cosmetics
Tomatoes/tomato paste
Eurobond/foreign currency bond/ share purchases
Dairy/milk
Maize.