Godwin Emefiele plans to restrict more foreign goods in import bill

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, plans to block more foreign foods from being imported into the country despite the high inflation rate.

Emefiele said the government plans to cut importation by 35%, as the exclusion of some food or products from import bill have began to yield result.

If more items are restricted, they will be blocked from the list of products eligible for forex, which is needed for importation. This will cause the price of the barred commodity to increase if dollars is sourced is sourced at black market.

The restriction and border closure are the causes of high Inflation rate in Nigeria, which is currently 17.93% as at May, although it dropped from 18.12% of April 2021.

Nigeria now benefiting from blockage of foreign products

He said the cut down of foreign consumption has helped the country save more on foreign exchanges and grow local production, especially the agricultural sector.

The governor used Dangote Refinery as one of the local production that will aid the reduction of import bill. According to the head of the Apex bank, the country will soon ban importation of petroleum products once the refinery begins production

He made this known during a courtesy visit from Buah Saidy, the Governor of the Central Bank of Gambia. Emefiele said President Muhammadu Buhari's insistence on economic diversification five years ago is now gradually favouring the country.

Amid high inflation, Emefiele says Nigeri will get better

During the interaction with Saidy, Emefiele said in the coming years, the country will be greater than it is now: “And we believe with time Nigeria will really be a greater country than it is today. We don’t think we are great yet because we have a high import dependence in the country and we are doing everything possible to reduce imports.

“But like you know, when we are able to reduce imports, encourage exports and encourage consumption spending and investment, those are some of the parameters that will ultimately boost our economy so that we can continue to see rapid growth in our GDP and see prosperity for our people.”