Wow! CBN Grants Manufacturers Access To $660m

by firmtech1.blogspot.com on 23:23 in Business

Manufacturing industries in Nigeria have been given
access to foreign exchange valued at over $660m in
the inter-bank market to source raw materials and
spare parts for their industries courtesy of the
interbank forex market.
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s acting Director,
Corporate Communications, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, in a
statement on Monday said that the measure by the
CBN was in line with its promise to ease foreign
exchange pressure on manufacturing and agricultural
businesses through forward sales under the new
flexible Forex regime.
He said that the sum sourced by the manufacturers
was to facilitate the procurement of raw materials
for agricultural, pharmaceutical, automobile,
aviation, plant and machinery, power,
telecommunications, and printing,
He said, “The CBN is committed to ensuring that
manufacturers of goods for which Nigeria does not
enjoy comparative advantage are able to get letters
of credit (LCs) to import the required materials for
their businesses.”
The measure is coming after Erisco Foods Limited
announced the closing down of its N4bn tomato
paste processing plant in Oregun, Lagos State.
The Company’s President, Mr. Eric Umeofia, said it
was closing down its 450,000 tonnes tomato plant,
sacking 1,500 workers and moving its operations to
China.
Umeofia has said the decision was due to the
refusal of CBN to allocate Forex to the company for
importation of raw materials
Okorafor said that since the CBN introduced
restrictions on the sourcing of Forex for 41 items
from the inter-bank market, the move had greatly
benefited local manufacturers in the country.
He urged manufacturers to take advantage of the
policy which would enable Nigeria to reclaim its
status as a major producer of goods through
backward integration initiatives.
According to him, this will necessary push to
Nigeria to conserve billions of forex being spent on
import bills annually.