On Thursday, 12th of October, the Central Bank of Nigeria lifted the ban that had been placed on the acquisition of forex for the importation of certain items into the country. Of the 43 items on the list, approximately half of these items were real estate related. 

This reversal effectively cancels out the 2015 ban put in place to curb naira depreciation and reduce import dependency within the country as detailed in a previous article. As of today, developers can freely import items on the list using forex from the interbank market.

 

At the time the ban was effected in 2015, the naira was trading at ₦235/$ on the parallel market while the interbank market closed at ₦197.54/$. By the close of day today, the naira closed at ₦770/$ according to the CBN. The figures indicate that the ban did little, if nothing to curb the depreciation of the naira. 

 

Which real estate items were banned by the Central Bank of Nigeria?

 

A few of the items placed on the ban list include:

• Roofing sheets 
• Iron rods
• Reinforcing bars 
• Tiles 
• Cement
• Wooden doors
• Cold Rolled Steel Sheets
• Galvanized Steel Sheets
• Roofing Sheets
• Wheelbarrows
• Head Pans

 

The full list can be accessed here.

 

The lifting of the ban is certain to have a ripple effect on the construction sector and the economy as a whole. More on the impact of the lift will be released at a later time.

 

Estate Intel loves your feedback! Let the Insights team know what you think about CBN lifting the ban by emailing [email protected].

Subscribe to ei Pro to access affordable real estate data such as; sales rates, yields, supply drivers, and information on key real estate market participants who are active in the market.