Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has explained that the ban it placed on 41 items that are not eligible for foreign exchange is still in place as the policy has not been reversed.

A statement issued on Thursday in Abuja by CBN Ag. Director, Corporate Communications, Isaac Okorafor said that media reports indicating otherwise are false.

“The CBN has not reversed its policy on the 41 items ineligible for forex through the Nigerian forex market.

“The reports appear to be a misinterpretation of our circular titled, ‘Revised Documentation Requirements For Allocation Of Foreign Exchange For Small-Scale Importation’, dated May 03, 2017, to the effect that importers of items classified as ‘ineligible for Forex’ with transactions value of $20,000 and below per quarter shall now qualify for allocation of foreign exchange subject to the completion of form Q.

“This provision does not refer to the 41 items that remain ineligible for forex sale in the Nigerian forex market.”

Newscorner  reports that the banned items are:

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

Galvanized steel sheets

Roofing sheets

Wheelbarrows

Head pans

Metal boxes and containers

Enamelware

Steel drums

Steel pipes

Wire rods(deformed and not deformed)

Iron rods and reinforcing bard

Wire mesh

Steel nails

Security and razor wine

Wood particle boards and panels

Wood Fibre Boards and Panels

Plywood boards and panels

Wooden doors

Toothpicks

Glass and Glassware

Kitchen utensils

Tableware

Tiles-vitrified and ceramic

Textiles

Woven fabrics

Clothes

Plastic and rubber products, polypropylene granules, cellophane wrappers

Soap and cosmetics

Tomatoes/tomato pastes

Eurobond/foreign currency bond/ share purchases