The Central Bank Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, has said that the CBN will not support the importation of items that can be produced in Nigeria with forex.

As Nigeria continued the process of full reopening of the economy, he urged industrial conglomerates to support efforts aimed at growing the economy and returning it to its glory days.

The governor in a statement by the apex bank said, “The CBN will not support the importation of items that can be produced in Nigeria because the bank could not spend its foreign exchange reserves on what would not boost the economy and generate jobs for Nigerians.”

Emefiele said this during a virtual meeting with chief executive officers of conglomerates in Nigeria.

He said in line with the Federal Government’s desire, it was determined to return the Nigerian economy to the period when the manufacturing and agricultural sectors formed the mainstay of the economy.

The CBN governor, while acknowledging the challenge of low oil prices to major economies of the world, expressed confidence that the price of crude would not remain at low levels for a long period.

He emphasised that the low oil price challenge was surmountable, just as he declared that Nigeria’s foreign reserves of about $37bn remained robust to support the economy.

Emefiele enjoined the conglomerates to key into the current administration’s drive of diversifying the base of the Nigerian economy by taking advantage of its large population to market their products, which he insisted could be produced in the country and exported to the rest of the world.

He also pledged the bank’s willingness to provide foreign exchange to companies that required such raw materials and machines that could not be obtained in Nigeria.