The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced plans to stop the sale of foreign currency (forex) to banks by the end of the year.
CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, who made this known at a press briefing on the launch of the bank’s new forex repatriation scheme, RT200 held after the Banker’s Committee meeting on Thursday in Abuja, said the decision is in line with the new commitment to boost the Nigeria’s foreign reserves through proceeds from non-oil exports.
Emefiele said the banks must begin to source their forex from export proceeds, hence the need to support non-oil exporters in the country.
He, however, noted that the CBN will support the banks by granting rebates and other support until the banks find their feet in sourcing their forex by themselves.
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 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 percent”, 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.
