The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has warned that it will treat as a breach of extant regulations for any shipper to take on-board any cargo for which a Form NXP is not duly completed by the exporter. The apex bank in a circular “Exports from Nigeria- Compliance with Memorandum 11 of the Foreign Exchange Manual,” issued last week said bills of lading in respect of exports from Nigeria shall henceforth carry the Form NXP number of the underlying cargo. The circular signed by the Director, Trade and Exchange Department, W.D. Gotring said this is in line with the efforts of the bank to ensure that all export transactions are carried out through the formal channels.
“Consequently, all exporters are required to register Forms NXP with an Authorized Dealer of their choice prior to shipment in line with Memorandum 11 Section 1 (a)(i),” the circular stated.
“For the avoidance of doubt, it shall be a breach of extant regulations for any shipper to take on-board any cargo for which a Form NXP is not duly completed by the exporter.”
The directive which the bank said takes immediate effect, is believed will assist the CBN to take advantage of all exports in its push for increased foreign exchange earnings into the nation’s economy.
The banking industry regulator has been very active in recent times in trying to stabilize the nation’s foreign exchange market including creating different forex windows for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) operators, investors and entrepreneurs among others.
The bank also during the week further libralised the interbank foreign exchange market allowing authorised forex dealers to “defease” (annul) their excess foreign currency trading positions to other authorised dealers without seeking prior approval from it.