‘Review forex policy’

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to review its foreign exchange policy for imported goods.

The LCCI made the call in a statement by its Director-General, Muda Yusuf.

The chamber disapproved of the apex bank’s policy which restricted 41 imported goods from accessing foreign exchange from the bank.

 It said the policy would serve as a disincentive to the  manufacturing sector and the economy.

The statement said the restricted items included critical elements of the manufacturing process of many firms, across sectors in the country.

“The policy means that manufacturers who require any of the 41 restricted items as inputs and raw materials for their production may have to simply shut their operations once their existing stock is exhausted.

“The LCCI understands the CBN’s constraints and circumstances, as it drew up this policy.

“It, however, appears as if the formulation of the policy has suffered from the CBN’s limited understanding of the manufacturing process of many of the sectors affected by this policy.”

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the CBN on June 23 said it was imperative to exclude importers of some goods from accessing foreign exchange.

It added that the directive was aimed at encouraging local production of the items.

The chamber, however, noted that the policy was ambiguous as the restricted items were not well-defined and specific.  It stated that the ambiguity had plunged both manufacturers and banks into confusion.

It, therefore, urged the apex bank to amend the policy with full product definition, specification of all restricted items, including their HS Codes and excluding any items, which are non-substitutable industrial raw materials from the list.

The chamber, therefore, called for appropriate time frames for items which required some interval before local substitutes can be created for imported raw materials.

It reminded the CBN and the Federal Government that manufacturers had yet to recover from the losses they suffered due to the recent currency devaluation.