Indications are that Items that were hitherto regarded as not valid for foreign exchange may have been permitted by the CBN to access foreign exchange provided the value of such imports are either below $20,000 or exactly $20,000. Banks in the country are now advising their customers to apply for forex to import such items.
In a note to customers one of the recently sanctioned bank said “Please note that importers of items classified as “Not Valid for Forex” with transaction value of $20,000.00 and below per quarter shall now qualify for allocation of foreign exchange subject to completion of Form Q.
Meanwhile, in a bid to satisfy the CBN requirements banks sanctioned early in the week by the CBN for non compliance with the SME forex window are now wooing customers for patronage. The banks are frantically sending out advisory notes to customer to come forward to buy foreign exchange.
In one of the messages one of the sanctioned bank said “In response to CBN’s circular on the above subject, we pleased to inform you that you can now access foreign exchange from CBN through any of our branches for importation of all eligible products under the following conditions:
*Completion of form Q, CBN has introduced the use of form Q for all SMEs as part of their importation requirements; maximum of $20,000 per customer per quarter; customers must have operated their account with the bank for a minimum of six (6) months.
Other requirements are that “All applicants must submit a written application letter; provision of Pro forma invoice from supplier; provision of suppliers’/beneficiary’s bank account details.
