The foreign exchange supplied by the Central Bank of Nigeria for the importation of food products into Nigeria rose by 23.81 per cent to $1.04bn in the first half of this year, compared to the same period of 2020.

The foreign exchange supplied by the Central Bank of Nigeria for the importation of food products into Nigeria rose by 23.81 per cent to $1.04bn in the first half of this year, compared to the same period of 2020.

Food imports gobbled up $840.18m in H1 2020, down from $1.02bn in the same period a year earlier, according to the CBN data on sectoral utilisation for transactions valid for forex.

Although President Muhammadu Buhari, had in September 2020 directed the CBN to stop issuing forex for food and fertiliser imports, data from the apex bank showed that $709.07m was utilised for food products imports in the last quarter of 2020.

Buhari gave the directive at a meeting of the National Food Security Council at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, saying that firms that were bent on importing food should source their forex elsewhere.