The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has said foreign exchange repatriation into Nigeria has increased by 40% as a result of the implementation of its RT200 FX programme.
Emefiele also said that exporters who do not sell their export proceeds at the Investor and Exporter (I&E) window would not be eligible for the rebate.
This was made known by Emefiele while delivering his keynote address at the RT200 Non-Oil Export Summit which was held on Tuesday, May 9, 2023, at the Lagos Continental Hotel in Lagos.
The summit which is the third in the series since the beginning of the programme has the theme, “Challenges and Prospects to Success.
Emefiele, while delivering his speech said, “I’m happy to note that the RT200 programme has made, and I use the word tremendous progress in export proceed repatriation since its establishment in February 2022.’’
The CBN Governor said that when the RT200 programme was started, only $62 million was repatriated by March 2022, adding that by the second quarter, which was between April and June 2022, it had risen to about $600 million. He noted that by the third quarter, which is July to September 2022, it had risen to over $900 million.
He added, ‘’Available data shows that repatriation due to the programme increased by 40 percent from US$3.0 billion in 2021 to US$ 5.6 billion at the end of 2022.
“The momentum for 2023 is equally showing strong numbers and impressive prospects. In the first quarter of 2023, a total of US$1.7 billion was repatriated to the economy while about $970 million was sold at the I&E window year-to-date. The balance of the proceeds remained in the Export Domiciliary Accounts of exporters.
‘’Please note that proceeds that are not sold at the I&E window cannot and will not be eligible for the rebate. So, we encourage holding their export proceeds in their domiciliary accounts to take advantage of the rebate by selling their proceeds to the I&E Window.”
He went on to express the CBN’s commitment “to strengthening and expanding foreign exchange supply into the market. Naturally, you all are important in this clarion call of expanding the supply of foreign exchange inflow into the economy.”
Recalling that in February 2022, the CBN officially announced the launching of the RT200 FX Programme”, in a bid to get $200 billion in FX repatriation over the next 5 years.
The RT200 Programme was expected to have 5 key anchors namely; Value-Adding Exports Facility, Non-Oil Commodities Expansion Facility, Non-Oil FX Rebate Scheme, Dedicated Non-Oil Export Terminal and Biannual Non-Oil Export Summit
Emefiele pointed out that the decision to launch the programme was in line with the apex bank’s new commitment to boost the country’s foreign reserves through proceeds from non-oil exports.
The CBN revealed that the new RT200 FX Programme will be similar to the Naira4Dollar scheme for diaspora remittances, which offers recipients of diaspora remittances through CBN’s International Money Transfer Operators to be paid N5 for every $1 received as remittance inflow.
(Naira Metrix)