CBN gives greenlight for coys to open LCs

In fulfilment of its pledge to fund forward sales under the new flexible Foreign Exchange regime, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will within the next few months fund the 60-day forward sales and request from the agricultural, aviation, machinery and raw materials sectors, thus guaranteeing letters of credit (LCs) for importers to ship in required goods.
Confirming this to journalists in Abuja, the Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, confirmed that the CBN would fund the requests from the various sectors in the secondary market interbank thereby giving a boost to the importation of required goods for the overall development of the economy.
Okorafor explained that importers in the agricultural sector would be getting the largest percentage allocation of 62 per cent of their requests, while importers of machinery would receive 53 per cent of their requests. Other sectors to receive allotments are the airlines, which will have 32 per cent of their request settled, as well as the importers of raw materials.
According to him, the move by the CBN to settle the 60-day forward sales amounting to over $300 million would further ease pressure on the Naira and improve market liquidity.