The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has removed overseas school fees and medical tourism from its list of items to enjoy priority in the interbank foreign exchange window.
Initial reports had it that the two items had been removed from the list, thus bringing the items on the forex prohibition list to 43 in number.
However, a CBN official told News Express this morning: “Overseas education and medical tourism can still enjoy forex allocation but they are no longer on the priority list like raw materials, spare parts and other essential items.”
The downgrading of overseas school fees and medical tourism came barely day after Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State recommended the addition of the two items to the list of items to be denied forex by the CBN. He made the recommendation while speaking at the Cable Newspaper colloquium in Lagos.
While the CBN official exchange rate has remain unchanged at 197 naira to the dollar, the naira has hit a record low of 325 to the dollar.
•Photo shows CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele.
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