The Central Bank of Nigeria has reported that the foreign exchange it supplied for food imports was as much as $1.04 billion in the first half of this year.
CBN’s report on industry use for trades valid for forex found that the amount spent on food imports this year was 23 percent higher than the $840.18 million in the first half of 2020.
The CBN’s breakdown of sectoral use of forex showed that food imports accounted for about 10.34 percent of the $10.05 billion used for imports into the country in H1 2021. In 2020, food imports accounted for about 6.57 percent of the $28.46 billion used for imports.
Although President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the CBN to stop issuing forex for food and fertilizer imports in September 2020, data from the top bank showed that $709.07 million was used for food imports in the last quarter. of 2020.
The central bank has maintained a growing list of importers who have no access to foreign exchange, including foodstuffs such as wheat and sugar. The top bank also recently said that only BUA and Dangote were allowed to import sugar into the country.
