Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Mr. Godwin Emefiele has said that more items will follow the 43 items restricted from access to foreign exchange in Nigeria. Reacting to the purported directive from the President that the CBN should not give a penny to importers of food items the governor said that the President is supporting what the CBN has been doing in denying some 43 items access to foreign exchange since they can be produced locally. He said that importers of those items will not just be denied access to foreign exchange from CBN source alone but also from the Nigerian banking industry. The CBN had in 2016 restricted 41 items from access to foreign exchange.
Emefiele said this while fielding questions from journalists shortly before the commencement of the presidential retreat for ministers-designate, federal permanent secretaries and top government functionaries, at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja. President Muhammadu Buhari had on Tuesday, August 13, in Daura, Katsina State, directed the CBN to stop providing foreign exchange for importation of food into the country. On how far he has you gone with the implementation directive from the President not to issue forex to food importers, the CBN governor said:
“Mr President’s comment on the issuing of forex to people who import food items into the country is in the logic of CBN’s management foreign exchange policies that we started since 2016. If you recall, we started with about 41 items (food and non-food items) z because we believe that those items can be produced in the country.
“As we stand today, there are about 43 items on that list and I will say substantially most of them are food items. We are basically saying, if we have a food item that can be produced in the country, why we should waste scare foreign exchange importing those items into the country, when those can be produced in the country. It is important for me to say that the attempt to misrepresent the comments of Mr President is very unfair and unfortunate. But, what we will say from the CBN is that Mr President has made this comment purely to strengthen the position of the CBN, to say that he believes in what the CBN has been doing since 2016 and there is need for us to reinforce that going forward. I will say that, to be honest, we would aggressively go more into the list of items that are being imported into the country, items that can be produced in Nigeria.
“I will like to stress that we would ensure that more of these items will get on the list of items that are going to be restricted from accessing foreign exchange in Nigerian banking industry, not just from the CBN source. Because, I have heard some comments that maybe it’s about the CBN’s source; it is not the CBN’s source. We are saying you will not be able to access foreign exchange from the Nigerian banking industry because it is important for us to produce these items in Nigeria and we will follow through on them.”
Asked if there will be no amendment to the policy, the CBN governor said: “There will never be an amendment because the issue is this, why should we be exporting jobs to other countries? Today we are complaining that there is a high rate of unemployment, leading to some extent the level of insecurity in the country, why should we allow people to import food that can be produced in the country? We need to improve wealth in our rural communities and I am saying we will not change course, we will even be more aggressive on this Programme.”
On if President Buhari’s directives will not affect the Africa Free Trade Continental Area Agreement Nigeria just subscribed to, Emefiele said: “It will not affect the content of the AfCFTA. In any case, the AfCFTA is an agreement that is ongoing, the terms of engagement are still being discussed and negotiated. The important thing is that Nigeria needs to stand as the largest economy in Africa and the largest populated countries in Africa, we need to stand and dictate the terms under which we want to be in it and this is what we are saying. But what I am saying is that it is wrong, it is inappropriate that an item that can be produced in Nigeria should be imported into Nigeria. When we get into the AfCFTA issues we will also look at the details of it, but at this time we are saying we need to create jobs for our country, for the youths and we need to create jobs, we yearn for growth and the only way we can really accelerate growth in a Nigeria between now and next four years is to see to it that items that can be produced in Nigeria are indeed produced in Nigeria rather than being imported into the country.”
Asked if he was not scared of the impact a British court ruling that an engineering and project management company, Process and Industrial Developments Ltd., has the right to seize $9 billion in Nigerian assets, will impact the country economy, he said no. He assured that the apex bank has enough grounds to file for stay of execution. Emefiele said: “I am not scared at all and I think it is also important that this question has come up. Since the news about the judgement broke out late on Friday, we have been discussing with our counsels, and they have advised that there are sufficient and strong grounds on the basis of which we could file a stay of execution and also an appeal against that judgement. There are certain anomalies in the process leading to the award of that contract which is currently being looked into by the EFCC and I believe that the EFCC themselves have their own investigation reports about that.
“So, we will follow through and aggressively too on ensuring that the execution of that judgement is stayed and that the appeal succeeds at every level both within Nigeria and abroad. It is important for me to use this opportunity to assure our friends, local and foreign investors who called to express solidarity with us, not to express concern but to say that there is no need for anybody to worry. We know that the implication of that judgement has some impact on monetary policy and that is why the CBN is going to step forward and very strongly too to ensure that we defend the country and defend the reserves of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.” The CBN governor that as a senior government official in the area of policy making, he was invited to join the ministers designate in listening to the President about the policy thrust for the next four years.
According to him, “I think this is a very brilliant initiative because what it will do is that it will set the focus, everybody will know what the assignments and responsibilities will be in specific terms between now and the next four years. “I am here because as a member of the monetary policy authority, it is part of the attempts for collaboration between the monetary and fiscal authorities in Nigeria.”
