Post by Trade Forum on May 11, 2023 17:42:10 GMT 1
CBN to introduce rebate for unprocessed items as RT-200 Programme pay out N144 billion to non-oil exporters
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that it would begin to pay a rebate to non-oil exporters of raw materials and unprocessed items in its RT-200 Repatriation Policy.
The rebate scheme which is part of the CBN RT-200 policy was designed to serve as an incentive for exporters in the non-oil sector to encourage repatriation and sale of export proceeds into the FX market focused only on processed and value-added products.
However, in an effort to address concerns raised by some stakeholders, and for the inclusion of more players in the non-oil export sector, especially small exporters, the CBN announced that it would begin to pay rebates to exporters of unprocessed items.
The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, while speaking at the third edition of the RT 200 Bi-annual Export Summit in Lagos, explained that “The reason why we initially decided that we would only pay a rebate for value-added products was to encourage exporters to move from just exporting crude items. We wanted to create an opportunity to encourage you to set up an arrangement that processes these raw materials and creates job opportunities for our people rather than just exporting raw materials.”
However, he noted the inclusion would encourage more exporters and further strengthen the efforts of attaining the RT-200 goal but said that the rebate for unprocessed items would not be at the same rate paid for value addition or processed products.
“We should be able to give out about N30 to N35 to one dollar for unprocessed items as against the rebate of N65 to every dollar enjoyed by exporters of processed products at the importers and exporters (I&E) window.”
The RT-200 programme which was launched in February 2022 was established to stimulate non-oil exports with a $200 billion FX income target in three to five years.
The scheme was designed to operate on five pillars including a value-added export facility, non-oil commodities expansion facility, non-oil FX rebate scheme and biannual non-oil export summit.
The CBN revealed that since its launch, $1.7 billion had been repatriated, N144 billion has been paid in rebate to non-oil exporters with over N25 billion paid in the first quarter of 2023 alone while over $970 million had been sold in the Investors’ and Exporters window (I&E) since January.
Also, data from the Nigeria Export Promotional Council revealed that because of RT-200 and its implementation, Nigeria recorded a 40 per cent increase in the volume of exports, its highest in 47 years.
The Chairman of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote who was also at the event highlighted some of the challenges facing exporters in Nigeria including poor infrastructure, heavy charges and the activities by some government agencies and players that stifle the efforts of exporters.
“The charges are just too high. It is like most of the agencies are set up as money-making ventures rather than playing the role of facilitating export trade. They built a port that would operate at a capacity of over 4000 containers daily, but there are no good roads to compliment the effort”
He urged the government to find a lasting solution to issues impeding a healthy business environment and create ways to promote export with particular emphasis on non-oil commodities.
Emefiele reiterated the commitment of the apex bank in the area of making credit easily accessible for exporters and businesses to benefit from its many financial programmes as it had deepened engagement with banks, development finance institutions and other relevant stakeholders.
“To encourage some of the banks to work with us on small loans like the Anchor Borrowers’ Program (ABP) we had to commit to a 50 per cent risk sharing with the banks and this had a positive outcome. We have approved at the committee of governors to credit the banks our own portion of the commitment,” Emefiele explained as he stressed that easy access to credit would go a long way in encouraging small businesses and exporters.
Other commendable milestones of the RT-200 program include the disbursement of over N2.5 trillion through various schemes and intervention of non-oil export finance, deepened advocacy and dialogue with all stakeholders through the Biannual summit, the emergence of the Lekki Deep Sea Port, among others.
Source: sunnewsonline.com/cbn-to-introduce-rebate-for-unprocessed-items-as-rt-200-programme-pay-out-n144-billion-to-non-oil-exporters/
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that it would begin to pay a rebate to non-oil exporters of raw materials and unprocessed items in its RT-200 Repatriation Policy.
The rebate scheme which is part of the CBN RT-200 policy was designed to serve as an incentive for exporters in the non-oil sector to encourage repatriation and sale of export proceeds into the FX market focused only on processed and value-added products.
However, in an effort to address concerns raised by some stakeholders, and for the inclusion of more players in the non-oil export sector, especially small exporters, the CBN announced that it would begin to pay rebates to exporters of unprocessed items.
The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, while speaking at the third edition of the RT 200 Bi-annual Export Summit in Lagos, explained that “The reason why we initially decided that we would only pay a rebate for value-added products was to encourage exporters to move from just exporting crude items. We wanted to create an opportunity to encourage you to set up an arrangement that processes these raw materials and creates job opportunities for our people rather than just exporting raw materials.”
However, he noted the inclusion would encourage more exporters and further strengthen the efforts of attaining the RT-200 goal but said that the rebate for unprocessed items would not be at the same rate paid for value addition or processed products.
“We should be able to give out about N30 to N35 to one dollar for unprocessed items as against the rebate of N65 to every dollar enjoyed by exporters of processed products at the importers and exporters (I&E) window.”
The RT-200 programme which was launched in February 2022 was established to stimulate non-oil exports with a $200 billion FX income target in three to five years.
The scheme was designed to operate on five pillars including a value-added export facility, non-oil commodities expansion facility, non-oil FX rebate scheme and biannual non-oil export summit.
The CBN revealed that since its launch, $1.7 billion had been repatriated, N144 billion has been paid in rebate to non-oil exporters with over N25 billion paid in the first quarter of 2023 alone while over $970 million had been sold in the Investors’ and Exporters window (I&E) since January.
Also, data from the Nigeria Export Promotional Council revealed that because of RT-200 and its implementation, Nigeria recorded a 40 per cent increase in the volume of exports, its highest in 47 years.
The Chairman of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote who was also at the event highlighted some of the challenges facing exporters in Nigeria including poor infrastructure, heavy charges and the activities by some government agencies and players that stifle the efforts of exporters.
“The charges are just too high. It is like most of the agencies are set up as money-making ventures rather than playing the role of facilitating export trade. They built a port that would operate at a capacity of over 4000 containers daily, but there are no good roads to compliment the effort”
He urged the government to find a lasting solution to issues impeding a healthy business environment and create ways to promote export with particular emphasis on non-oil commodities.
Emefiele reiterated the commitment of the apex bank in the area of making credit easily accessible for exporters and businesses to benefit from its many financial programmes as it had deepened engagement with banks, development finance institutions and other relevant stakeholders.
“To encourage some of the banks to work with us on small loans like the Anchor Borrowers’ Program (ABP) we had to commit to a 50 per cent risk sharing with the banks and this had a positive outcome. We have approved at the committee of governors to credit the banks our own portion of the commitment,” Emefiele explained as he stressed that easy access to credit would go a long way in encouraging small businesses and exporters.
Other commendable milestones of the RT-200 program include the disbursement of over N2.5 trillion through various schemes and intervention of non-oil export finance, deepened advocacy and dialogue with all stakeholders through the Biannual summit, the emergence of the Lekki Deep Sea Port, among others.
Source: sunnewsonline.com/cbn-to-introduce-rebate-for-unprocessed-items-as-rt-200-programme-pay-out-n144-billion-to-non-oil-exporters/
