CBN Meets 3% of RT200 FX Target in Nine Months

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been able to meet just 3 per cent of its $200 billion target from the RT200 FX programme in the last nine months.

The RT200 FX programme is an initiative of the apex bank targeted at achieving a $200 billion inflow from exports over the next three to five years through intensifying exporters who channel their inflow through the official window and sell it through the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window.

Speaking at the second edition of the RT200 Export Summit in Lagos on Tuesday, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, disclosed that this year, a total of $4.987 billion had been repatriated into the country by non-oil exporters. This figure, he said, is higher than the sum of $3.190 billion repatriated in 2021.

“Of this amount, only $1.966 billion qualified for the rebate program, but only $1.559 billion was sold at the I&E window or for own use,” he said.

He also explained that N81 billion had been paid out as a rebate to Nigerian exporters who channelled their foreign exchange returns through the official window.

The CBN governor, while noting that the improvement in repatriated funds is a testament to the resolve of the bank to ensure quick acceleration of the export value chain in the country, said the apex bank had been urged to extend rebates to raw materials.

“I know that there have been calls to make all exporters eligible for the rebate and not just limiting it to finished and semi-finished products,” he pointed out.

Business Post had reported that Mr Emefiele launched the RT200 FX Programme in February and aimed policies, plans, and programmes for non-oil exports that will enable the country to “attain our lofty yet attainable goal of $200 billion in FX repatriation exclusively from non-oil exports, over the next 3-5 years.”

The CBN chief said the non-oil FX rebate is a special local currency incentive for non-oil exporters of semi-finished and finished produce who show verifiable evidence of export proceeds repatriation sold directly into the Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E) window to boost liquidity in the market.