Heated Reactions as CBN Moves to Place Forex Ban on Importation of 2 Important Products
- Nigeria's apex bank, CBN, is considering including sugar and wheat in the FX restriction list
- A brief statement attributed to the CBN governor justified the move by saying Nigeria should produce the items locally instead of importing them
- The development has drawn heated reactions; while some clearly opposed the move, others claimed it's a good one
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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced its plan to include sugar and wheat on the list of import items banned from accessing Foreign Exchange (FX).
The apex bank made this known in a brief statement posted on its official social media pages, Facebook and Twitter, and sighted by Legit.ng on Friday, April 16.
Source: Facebook
According to the central bank, Nigeria should produce sugar and wheat locally rather than importing them.
The statement which was attributed to the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, reads:
"Sugar and Wheat to go into our FX restriction list. We must work together to produce these items in Nigeria rather than import them."
The development has generated heated and diverse reactions from Nigerians. Below are a few of the comments:
Alex Alex Emek commented:
"This is a very wrong move! You have to equip your local producers to produce sufficiently/enough before restrictions. IS IT THE DUTY OF CBN to decide what comes in & goes out of the country?"
"Most of the programs initiated by federal government to improve the economy are not getting the desired results because some of the actors has corrupted some of it's processes e.g ; SOME OF US (Entrepreneurs) APPLIED FOR TCF COVID-19 LOAN through NMFB since 2020 and this Year yet no approval - no disbursement? AM EXTREMELY PISSED - OFF WITH THE SYSTEM."
Comrd Lawalli Rahm said:
"Hope Dangote is aware of this step? This is a good idea, but hope it will not be hijacked by the scavengers, because some of these policies adopted recently seemed dysfunctional... A bag of rice for instance is still highly inflated as a domestic product being produced domestically despite the fact that fgn banned importation of such commodity..
"We shall be waiting for the outcome of this CBN ideology... I am very such CBN is just waking up from it's slumber for all these wasted years ... Price control and regulations are needed, I submit...."
Nasiru Mustapha Mafindi said:
"Please give loans for early establishment of their production factories before restricting importation."
Kenzy Dami said:
"How many tonnes of wheat do we produce in Nigeria? What the hell is wrong with this country's leadership?. I Can see the president and his economic team wants to finished this country by all means."
Muhammad Kabir Kabara Jr. said:
"This is a welcome development, but what effort CBN is putting to actualize that?"
Amina Ado, @AminaAdo, said:
"1. @cenbank reconsider your stance against wheat. We don't have suitable land or the right weather for very productive wheat farming. Wheat does best in cooler climates. Furthermore, same land now used for rice is what is needed for wheat."
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In other news, the federal government has given more clarifications over the allegation made by the governor of Edo state, Godwin Obaseki, that N60 billion was printed to augment its March monthly allocations to the states and local governments.
The CBN governor, Emefiele, said the apex bank would ensure the full and timely repayment of all facilities extended to states.
Emefiele made this known on Thursday, April 15, at the end of a facility tour of the Dangote Sugar plantation in Awe, Nasarawa state.
Source: Legit.ng
