CBN Disburses $2.8bn For Raw Materials In Two Months
In clearing backlog of dollar demands in the country, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said it disbursed the sum of $2.83 billion for utilization in the critical sectors of the economy such as manufacturing, agriculture aviation, petroleum products between December 2016 and January 2017.
According to the apex bank, priority was given to manufacturing, raw material and agriculture above other demands as its disbursements are targeted at employment generating and wealth creating sectors of the economy.
CBN in a release signed by the acting director, corporate communications department, Mr. Isaac Okorafor stated that the sum of $609 million and $228 million were released for raw materials in the months December and January respectively while manufacturing also attracted the sum $53 million and $71 million respectively during the same period.
In the foreign exchange utilization figure indicate that the sums of $1.839 billion and $0.989 billion respectively were extended to critical sectors like manufacturing, agriculture, petroleum products and airlines among others in December 2016 and January 2017.Okorafor stressed the determination of the apex bank to continue to ease the foreign exchange pressure on critical sectors.
It will be recalled that the CBN in the month of November 2016, supported critical sectors with $1.07 billion equivalent of foreign exchange for agricultural machinery, industrial raw materials, education and personal travel allowances to source industrial raw materials and spare-parts through the interbank foreign market.
