Manufacturing industries in Nigeria have been given access to foreign exchange valued at over $660 million in the inter-bank Market to source raw materials and spare parts for their industries courtesy of the interbank FOREX market.

According to industry sources, the move by the CBN is in line with its earlier promise to ease the foreign exchange pressure on manufacturing and agricultural businesses through forward sales under the new flexible Foreign Exchange regime.

Details obtained at the weekend indicated that the sum sourced by the manufacturers was to facilitate the procurement of raw materials for agricultural, pharmaceutical, automobile, aviation, plant and machinery, power, telecommunications, and printing, among others.

Confirming the report, the Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Isaac Okorafor, explained that the CBN was committed to ensuring that manufacturers of goods for which Nigeria does not enjoy comparative advantage were able to get letters of credit (LCs) to import the required materials for their businesses.

Citing the case of some manufacturing industries in Nigeria, which had posted huge turnovers since the CBN introduced restrictions on the sourcing of FOREX for 41 items from the inter-bank market, Okorafor said the restriction had indeed yielded positive results.

He therefore urged manufacturers to take advantage of the policy, which he stressed is part of efforts by the CBN to ensure that Nigeria reclaims its status as a major producer through backward integration initiatives and conserve billions of Foreign Exchange spent on import bills annually.

•Photo shows CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele.