A total of $1.28 billion was repatriated by non-oil exporters through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) RT200 Foreign exchange Policy aimed to boost foreign exchange inflow into the country.
Disclosing this virtually during the press conference after the Banker’s Committee Meeting on Thursday, the Managing Director of Citibank Nigeria, Ireti Samuel-Ogbu said RT200 forex initiative of the CBN has started bearing fruits, adding that out of the amount repatriated, the regulatory bank sold a total of $870 million on the official Investors and Exporters (I&E) foreign exchange window during the period.
Samuel-Ogbu also disclosed that the CBN paid out N42 billion as rebates for the non-oil exporters in form of incentives to the companies that repatriated the fund.
The apex bank initiated the RT200 scheme in February this year as part of measures to boost foreign exchange inflow into the country and help expand local productions for export markets.
The scheme was also meant to help the country diversify its sources of foreign exchange and help boost support for the local currency in the face of dwindling dollar inflows from the oil exports due to crude oil theft which has impacted the country’s production output.
According to the CBN guidelines on the scheme, RT200 is aimed to raise $200 billion in Foreign Exchange (FX) earnings from Non-Oil Proceeds over the next 3-5years.
One of the key components of the scheme is the rebate designed to incentivize exporters in the non-oil export sector. The CBN pays N65 for every $1 export proceeds repatriated by the exporter as an incentive.
Also speaking at the virtual post Banker’s Committee briefing, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS), Premier Oiwoh said the regulatory bank is coming out with a domestic payment card scheme, which will serve the multipurpose need of banks customers to promote a secured payment system and reduce the cost of transactions.
He said the scheme will depend on shared infrastructure by the industry while the card will support micro-credit, e-government and, transportation and reduce dependence on cash transactions.
