The central bank said earlier on Wednesday in a circular that it would curb access to the interbank currency market for the purchase of Eurobonds, foreign currency bonds and shares, as well as another 39 items from rice to construction materials to private jets.
Nigeria’s central bank will hold a news conference at 3 p.m. (1400 GMT) in Abuja on Wednesday to discuss new measures to help preserve foreign exchange reserves, a spokesman for the bank’s governor said.
“There’s a press conference at 3 p.m. to dwell more on the circular just issued,” Ugo Okoroafor, communications adviser to the central bank governor said.
There are strong speculations that the apex bank intends to curb the declining country’s reserve from being depleted over rising spend on luxury products and services by Nigerians making high demands for country’s forex reserve.
Nigeria’s Naira has been largely hit by the downward price of oil exports, high spending by government for the just concluded elections and the fight against Boko Haram. The country has a low fiscal discipline and corruption as its bane over the years. The State governments are having a cumulative debt of $3.3bn resulting in seeking the Federal Government’s intervention. President Buhari has promised to bring sanity to the financial system in government with no clear direction of what type of reforms States and the central government should adopt to curbing spending and rising debts profile
