The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, on Thursday said the regulatory bank plans to support non-oil exporters in a bid to boost earning from the sector to around $200 billion in the next three to five years.
According to him, the regulatory bank will stop selling foreign exchange to commercial bank from December this year as part of measures to encourage them to source dollars from export proceeds. Emefiele, who spoke at a press briefing in Abuja after Bankers Committee, launched the new forex repatriation scheme, RT200 which is designed to boost support for non-oil exports.
RT200 which stands for Race to $200 billion is a set of policies, plans and programmes for non-oil exports that will enable the country generate $200 billion in forex repatriation, exclusively from non-oil exports, over the next 3-5 years, the CBN governor said. "Under the programme, which is to take effect immediately, the apex bank will provide concessionary and long-term loans for business people who are interested in expanding existing plants or building new ones for the sole purpose of adding significant value to the non-oil commodities before exporting same. "These loans will have a tenure of 10 years, with a two year moratorium and an interest rate of 5 per cent," he added. Similar to the naira for dollar programme, the programme, he said, will also entail a forex rebate scheme where the exporters will be paid N5 for every dollar they put into the economy.
"Today, we are also announcing the introduction of the Non-Oil FX Rebate Scheme, a special local currency rebate scheme for non-oil exporters of semi finished and finished produce who show verifiable evidence of exports proceeds repatriation sold directly into the I & E window to boost liquidity in the market," Emefiele said. Emefiele said the regulatory bank plans to establish a dedicated non-oil export terminal in recognition of the perennial problems of port congestion cited by exporters as a major impediment to improved operations and foreign exchange earnings.
From Global Financial Digest
