The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has given the green light to importers of 43 items prohibited from accessing foreign exchange in the official market eight years ago. This move will help the naira to be come stronger on the parallel market, analysts have said.

This was disclosed in a statement signed by Isa AbdulMumin, the CBN’s director of corporate communications.

The CBN had on July 1, 2015 restricted the availability of foreign exchange to the importation of 41 items which could be competitively produced within the economy.

Some of the items include rice, cement, margarine, palm kernel/palm oil products/vegetables oils, meat and processed meat products, vegetables and processed vegetable products, poultry – chicken, eggs, turkey, Private airplanes/jets, Indian incense, tinned fish in sauce (geisha)/sardines, cold-rolled steel sheets, galvanised steel sheets, and roofing sheets.

“Importers of all the 43 items previously restricted by the 2015 circular referenced TED/FEM/FPC/GEN/01/010 and its addendums are now allowed to purchase foreign exchange in the Nigerian foreign exchange market,” the statement said.