FULL LIST: Rice, cement, toothpicks… CBN lifts FX ban on 43 items

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Thursday, announced the lifting of the ban on 43 items previously restricted from accessing foreign exchange (forex) from the investor’s and exporters’ (I&E) window.

In 2015, the CBN initially restricted 41 items from accessing FX from the I&E window, the country’s official market.

By implication, importers of the commodities were forced to source for FX at the black market often at higher rates.

The apex bank later added two more items to the list in 2018 and 2020, respectively.

In a statement on Thursday, the CBN said importers of the items are now allowed to purchase foreign exchange in the official market.

 Here’s the full list of the 43 items.

1. Rice
2. Cement
3. Margarine
4. Palm kernel/palm oil products/vegetable oils
5. Meat and processed meat products
6. Vegetables and processed vegetable products
7. Poultry chicken, eggs, turkey
8. Private airplanes/jets
9. Indian incense
10. Tinned fish in sauce (geisha)/sardines
11. Cold rolled steel sheets
12. Galvanised steel sheets
13. Roofing sheets
14. Wheelbarrows
15. Head pans
16. Metal boxes and containers
17. Enamelware
18. Steel drums
19. Steel pipes
20. Wire rods (deformed and not deformed)
21. Iron rods and reinforcing bars
22. Wire mesh
23. Steel nails
24. Security and razor wire
25. Wood particle boards and panels
26. Wood fiber boards and panels
27. Plywood boards and panels
28. Wooden doors
29. Furniture
30. Toothpicks
31. Glass and glassware
32. Kitchen utensils
33. Tableware
34. Tiles – vitrified and ceramic
35. Textiles
36. Woven fabrics
37. Clothes
38. Plastic and rubber products, cellophane wrappers
39. Soap and cosmetics
40. Tomatoes/tomato pastes
41. Euro bond/foreign currency bond/share purchases
42. Maize/corn
43. Fertiliser