The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday disclosed that it has given access to requests for foreign exchange valued at N1,00373,891.75 through the inter-bank window to enable respective industries procure industrial raw materials and machine spare-parts.
The apex bank said this was done in line with its determination to ensure seamless flow of activities in critical sectors of the Nigeria economy.
In the forex utilization figures published for the month of December, 2016, reveals that the industrial raw material group got the highest share of N483,075,669.82, approximating to 48.1 per cent.
Figures from the CBN report for the month December also showed that the petroleum and the aviation sectors received N372,116,111.79 and N123,666,001.06 or 37.1% and 12.2% respectively, while agriculture received N24,516,109.09 or 2.1%.
Commenting on the development, the Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, reiterated the commitment and resolve of the Bank to continue to ease the foreign exchange pressure of these critical sectors through forward sales under the new Flexible Exchange regime.
It will be recalled that the CBN in the month of September and October 2016, supported these critical sectors with $660million and $867million equivalent of forex to source industrial raw materials and spare-parts through the interbank Forex market.