Monday, August 19, 2019 /09:40AM / By Presidency / Header Image Credit: @MBuhari
SIR - Your article Muhammadu Buhari sparks dismay over policy shift on food imports (15 August) suggests the Nigerian Government is restricting the import of agricultural products into the country. This is simply incorrect. To be absolutely clear, there is no ban - or restriction - on the importation of food items whatsoever.
President Buhari has consistently worked towards strengthening Nigerias own industrial and agricultural base. A recent decision sees the Central Bank maintain its reserves to put to use helping growth of domestic industry in 41 product sectors rather than provide FOREX for the import of those products from overseas.
Should importers of these items wish to source their FOREX from non-government financial institutions (and pay customs duty on those imports - increasing tax-take, something the FT has berated Nigeria for not achieving on many occasions) they are freely able to do so.
Diversification
of FOREX provision towards the private sector and away from top-heavy
government control, a diversification of Nigerias industrial base, and an
increase in tax receipts - are all policies one might expect the Financial
Times to support. Yet for reasons not quite clear, the author and this
newspaper seem to believe the president’s administration seeks to control
everything - and yet do so via policies that relinquish government control.
We look
forward to the next instalment of Mr. Munshis bizarre and puzzling article
series.
Garba
Shehu
Senior
Special Assistant To The President,
Media and
Publicity,
Abuja,
Nigeria.
Related News
1. 10 Reasons President Buhari Should
Reconsider His Directive To Stop Allocating FX For Food Imports
2. President Buhari Directs CBN To Stop
Providing Forex For Food Importation To Nigeria
3. EXCLUSIVE: CBN to implement ban on
FX for food import 'in phases' – TheCable – Aug 14, 2019
4. CBN Clarifies Proposed Policy On FX
Restriction to Importers Of Milk
5. Average Price of 1kg of Tomatoes
Decreased By -9.40% MoM to N226.07 in June 2019 - NBS
6. Import Substitution - CBN Bans FX
Sale To Textile Importers
7. CBN Places Access to FX for All
Forms of Textile Materials on the FX Restriction List
8. Easy Money: Time to Create Buffers
9. Post MPC Analysis: A Second Look At
CBN’s July 2019 Monetary Policy – Intent and Impact
10. CBN Communiqué No. 125 of the MPC
Meeting – July 22-23, 2019
11. Who Manages the Forex Market?
12. Refinery: FG Will Source Forex from
Dangote – CBN Gov
13. MPC Maintains Status Quo After July
2019 Meeting
14. CBN’s 5-Year Plan: Same Direction;
More Dimensions
15. Monetary Authority Of Singapore
2018-19 Annual Report – Looking Ahead
16. Thoughts on CBN’s 5-Year Monetary Policy
Blueprint (Re: Monetary Trespass)
17. Implications of CBN's Five-Year
Policy Thrust
18. Nigeria's Central Bank Adds
Fertilizer To Its List of Imports Items Classified as Not Valid For FX
19. CBN Introduces Special Intervention
Of FOREX Cash Sales To BDC Operators Effective Dec 6, 2018
20. What is Happening to the Currency
Market in Nigeria?
21. Nigeria Sells Yuan For First Time as
It Deepens China Ties
22. The Nigeria and China Currency Swap:
How Much Room?
23. Whither The Substantial Remittances?
24. CBN Cancelled Charges on the Sale of
Foreign Exchange for Invisible Transactions
25. Emefiele Lists Gains of FX
Restriction on 41 Items; Outlines Projections for 2018
26. Agric, Airline, Oil and Raw Material
Sectors Get $285.7m Forex Funding
27. The CBN’s New Confidence in FX Policy
28. CBN Lists 36 Items Valid For FX in
the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Markets
29. The Nigerian Forex Situation
30. School Fees and Medicals Remain
Eligible for FOREX Allocation
31. How crazy can the Nigerian FX market
go – Ecobank provides an indication
32. What Banks Used 36.82% of FX
allotted for between Jan 2013 to May 2015
33. Manufacturing Sector spent $7.47b
(8.61%) of FX between Jan 2013 - May 2015
34. Forex: $1.42m was spent on health
related service btw Jan 2013 to May 2015
35. Top 10 Sub-Sectors with Highest FX
Utilisation between Jan 2014 and May 2015
36. FX Utilisation in Nigeria - Jan 2013
to May 2015: Exclusive Details
37. CBN's 41 'Not Valid for FOREX' Items
& Their Sectoral Impacts
38. CBN Classifies 40 Imported Goods and
Services as Invalid for Nigerian Forex Market
Signup with Facebook
Signup with Twitter
