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The Central Bank of Nigeria paid exporters N42bn for repatriating $1.28bn through its official window.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Citibank Nigeria, Ireti Samuel-Ogbu, during the Post Bankers’ Committee Meeting Press Briefing that was held on Thursday. According to the MD, the exporters through the CBN’s RT 200, repatriated $1.28bn for the quarter, out of which $870m was sold to the I&E window.
The RT 200 policy was introduced in February with the aim to raise $200bn in foreign exchange earnings from non-oil proceed in three to five years.
Samuel-Ogbu said, “The whole idea behind this initiative was to diversify sources of FX away from the dominance of oil and to increase the contribution of non-oil exports to increase availability and to support export-oriented companies to expand their operations and capabilities.
“We are very pleased to observe that this initiative is beginning to bear fruit and show successes. At the end of quarter three, September, the total amount repatriated was $1.28bn for the quarter and out of that the total amount sold into the I & E window was $870m which ended up in terms of rebates that was paid by the CBN, and you may be familiar that rebates are paid N65 to the dollar, totalling N42bn in rebates have been paid in the third quarter.
“We are very pleased to note that if you look at the amount of FX from non-oil export proceeds, it has shown a very pleasing year-on-year increase.”
In policy guideline, the CBN disclosed that its rebate scheme is designed to incentivise exporters in the non-oil export sector to encourage repatriation and sale of export proceeds into the FX markets. It added that the policy will help stabilise and sustain inflows of FX in a bid to insulate the nation’s economy from shocks and FX shortages.
Also at the briefing, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc, Premier Oiwoh, disclosed that a national domestic card scheme has been approved and would soon be deployed to improve the payment landscape in the nation.
He said, “So part of the proposition of the value that this national domestic card scheme would be creating is to help drive acceptance and efficiency, reduce the operating cost of the card’s operation in the country and provision of unique and reliable services.
“Plus, other features and products will be layered on it. Uniquely, this card will be configured to address the unique ecosystem issues to help improve payment in the nation.”
He added that the card will support micropayment and credits, egovernment, identify management, transportation, health sector, and agriculture in terms of payment. He further said that a lot of products such as debit cards, virtual cards, credit cards, non-interest card which will specifically address the interest of the non-Muslim segment of the country will be layered on the card.
