Dollar Scarcity Looms As CBN Is Set To Halt The Sale Of Forex

With dollar scarcity expected to hit hard, the CBN has set a timeframe to halt selling forex to banks.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that by the end of the year, it will no longer sell foreign exchange to deposit money banks. 2022

According to this online news portal, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, stated that “Nigerian banks must begin to obtain their FX from export revenues,” indicating the need to assist non-oil exporters in the country.

The decision, according to the CBN Governor, was made in keeping with the apex bank’s new commitment to increase the country’s foreign reserves from non-oil export revenues.

The CBN Governor stated this at a news conference following the Banker’s Committee meeting on Thursday, February 10, 2022 in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, on the debut of the bank’s new forex repatriation plan, RT200.

According to this online news platform, RT200, which stands for Race to $200 billion, is a set of non-oil export policies, plans, and programs that would enable the country to generate $200 billion in forex repatriation, solely from non-oil exports, over the next 3–5 years, according to the apex bank chief.

“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.

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“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, the CBN Governor said, would also entail a forex rebate scheme where the exporters would 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.

The CBN Governor said that the CBN planned to create a specialized non-oil export terminal in acknowledgment of the persistent problems of port congestion cited by exporters as a major hindrance to enhanced operations and foreign exchange profits.