CBN Restricts Dollar Sales as Naira Sinks Below N170

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Muhammad Bello in Abuja and Obinna Chima with agency report
With the price of crude oil heading south and the country’s foreign reserves under pressure, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday banned the sale of dollars at its Retail Dutch Auction System (RDAS) to importers of telecoms equipment, power generators and finished products.

Others affected by the ban include importers of electronics, finished products, invisible transactions business and information technology.
However, they can source their foreign exchange requirements from the interbank market and dealers.

Owing to the directive, the naira hit a new intra-day low in almost five years to N170.05 against the dollar yesterday, falling 1.87 per cent as the stock market continued to slide, Reuters reported.

In a circular titled, Exclusion of Some Transactions from the RDAS Window, posted on its website yesterday, the CBN said: “This is to inform all authorised dealers and the general public that in order to maintain the existing stability in the foreign exchange market and to further strengthen the various measures already initiated by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the importation of the following items shall henceforth be funded from the interbank foreign exchange market only: electronics, finished products, information technology, generators, telecommunications equipment, invisible transactions.”