CBN policy on importation stifles rice sale

Some rice dealers on Monday urged the Federal Government to introduce policies to regulate price of locally produced rice to make it more available and affordable.
According to them, the price of locally-made rice is higher than those imported and this is partly responsible for the low patronage of home grown rice.
They spoke in Lagos against the backdrop of the new foreign exchange restriction to rice importers by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
CBN, in June, banned official sale of foreign exchange to importers of certain goods, including rice.
The rice dealers said it would amount to contradiction for the Federal Government to roll out policies that would discourage rice importation when the price of locally produced rice was higher than the imported ones.
Mr Uche Okonkwo, a rice dealer, said that his customers thought that the price of rice would drop after some days, so they decided to be buying in small quantities.
He said that to their disappointment, the price of the commodity had soared due to the inability of the importers to access foreign exchange at the official rates.
Mrs Titilayo Ogundele, another dealer, said that before the CBN policy, a bag of rice was sold at about N7,300, but had gone up to N8,500.
“Governments should work on the price of Nigerian rice so that it would not affect the final consumers. We are experiencing low sales because of this policy on forex restriction. Home grown rice sells for N8,900 per bag,’’ she said.
Mr Chukwuma Obi, a major dealer, said that they were used to selling one trailer of 600 bags of rice within two weeks, but it was taking them one month to sell now.
“We are supposed to be busy selling but the market is dull. Customers are finding it difficult to buy rice at the new price.
“If the new policy is to hold water, the government should make policies that will increase the quality of home grown rice, and make it more affordable and available,’’ he said.
Another dealer, Mrs Kemi Afolami, urged the Federal Government to take proactive measures to stabilise price of locally-produced rice as many Nigerian families relied on rice as their daily staple.