The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has lifted the forex ban on 43 items and has promised to intervene in the foreign exchange market from “time to time.”

The products had been prohibited from getting FX via the I&E window by the apex bank in 2015 because they were “not valid for foreign exchange and could be produced in the country.” Among the items affected are rice, cement, palm kernels, meat and meat products, poultry, soap, and cosmetics.

However, the bank’s Director of Corporate Communications, Isa AbdulMumin, said in a statement that the ban has been lifted.

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“The CBN would occasionally intervene in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market to increase liquidity as part of its duty to guarantee price stability. These CBN interventions would progressively decline as market liquidity increases,” according to the statement released on Thursday.

“Importers of all the 43 items formerly prohibited by the 2015 Circular referenced TED/FEMFPC/GEN/O1/010 and its addenda are now permitted to purchase foreign exchange in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.”

“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will continue to promote orderliness and professional conduct by all participants in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market to ensure market forces determine exchange rates on a willing buyer-seller principle,” the official said.

“The CBN reiterates that current Foreign Exchange (FX) rates should be referenced from platforms such as the CBN website, FMDCQ, and other recognized or appointed trading systems to promote price discovery, transparency, and credibility in FX rates.”

“The CBN would occasionally intervene in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market to increase liquidity as part of its duty to guarantee price stability. The CBN will also progressively scale back its involvement as market liquidity increases.

“Creating a single FX market is one of the CBN’s objectives. To do this, market players are now being consulted,” according to CBN.

A list of imported products and services that would not be accepted for foreign exchange in the Nigerian foreign exchange market was released by the CBN in a circular in June 2015. Two more things were added to the list, which had previously had 41 items.

The objects are listed below:

1. Rice

2. Cement

3. Margarine

4. Palm kernel

5. Palm oil products

6. Vegetable oils

7. Meat and processed meat products

8. Vegetables and processed vegetable products

9. Poultry and processed poultry products

10. Tinned fish in sauce (Geisha) or sardine

11. Cold-rolled steel sheets

12. Galvanized steel sheets

13. Roofing sheets

14. Wheelbarrows

15. Head pans

16. Metal boxes and containers

17. Enamelware

18. Steel drums

19. Steel pipes

20. Wire rods (deformed and not deformed)

21. Iron rods

22. Reinforcing bars

23. Wire mesh

24. Steel nails

25. Security, razor fencing, and poles

26. Wood particle boards and panels

27. Wood fiberboards and panels

28. Plywood boards and panels

29. Wooden doors

30. Toothpicks

31. Glass and glassware

32. Kitchen utensils

33. Tableware

34. Tiles-vitrified and ceramic

35. Gas cylinders

36. Woven fabrics

37. Clothes

38. Plastic and rubber products

39. Polypropylene granules

40. Cellophane wrappers and bags

41. Soap and cosmetics

42. Tomatoes/tomato paste

43. Eurobond/foreign currency bond/share purchases

Eurobond/foreign currency bond/share purchases

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