Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has said the bank’s decision to restrict access to the foreign exchange official window for the importation of 41 items is in the best interest of the Nigerian economy.
Mr. Emefiele, who disclosed this in Lokoja, Kogi State, yesterday while declaring open the 26th Seminar of Financial Correspondents and Business Editors, also said the policy had opened opportunities for local manufacturers.
Represented by the Director, Monetary Policy Department of the CBN, Mr. Moses Tule, the CBN governor also said the currency swap deal with China also opened vistas of export opportunities in China for Nigerian manufacturers without barrier as the dollar was no longer required to export to China.
He noted that the implementation of the policy on 41 items, which he rationalized as unnecessary drains on the country’s foreign exchange reserve, contributed greatly to getting the Nigerian economy out of recession.
He also cited growth in the real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and improved reserve accretion as success indicators.
In his keynote address on the theme: ‘Monetary Policy Implementation Amidst Global Economic Protectionism’, the CBN governor said the selective protection policy on forex restriction to some imports was carefully crafted with a view to reversing the multiple challenges of dwindling foreign reserves, contracting GDP-recession and what he described as an embarrassing rise in the level of unemployment that confronted the Nigerian economy at the time.
Emefiele said the policy was aimed at stimulating the domestic economy in order to enhance domestic production and protect local industries from undue foreign competition and take-over.
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