The Central Bank of Nigeria has revealed that it will stop the sale of foreign exchange to Deposit Money Banks by the end of the year.
According to the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, banks must begin to source their forex from export proceeds, hence the need to support non-oil exporters in the country.
He pointed out that the decision is in line with the apex bank’s new commitment to boost the country’s foreign reserves through proceeds from non-oil exports.
He made this known at a press briefing on the launch of the bank’s new forex repatriation scheme, RT200 held after the Bnaker’s Committee meeting on Thursday in Abuja.
RT200 which stands for Race to $200bn is a set of policies, plans and programmes for non-oil exports that will enable the country generate $200bn 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 businesspeople 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.
In recognition of the perennial problems of port congestion cited by exporters as a major impediment to improved operations and foreign exchange earnings, Emefiele noted that the CBN plans to establish a dedicated non-oil export terminal.
