CBN Expands Non-oil Export Rebate to Boost Dollar Inflows

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it has expanded its non-oil export rebate scheme by opening it up to additional sectors in a bid to boost dollar inflows amid slumping oil production.

In the expanded scheme, CBN will pay naira incentives to exporters of primary goods or raw materials that repatriate dollars to encourage them to export more.

CBN noted in a statement yesterday that the new scheme which takes effect retroactively from April 1, 2023, is an amendment to its initial scheme introduced last year that applied only to exporters of finished and semi-finished goods.

Under the scheme, exporters of raw materials will get N25 per dollar of repatriated export earnings compared to N65 per dollar paid to exporters of processed items.

Recall that the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, while recently reviewing the impact of the implementation of the export rebate regime under its ‘Race to $200 billion (RT 200)’ programme, noted that the scheme has made good progress in export proceeds repatriation since its establishment in February 2022, with available data showing that repatriation due to the programme increased by 40 percent from $3.0 billion in 2021 to $5.6 billion at the end of 2022.

In 2022 CBN mobilsed commercial banks to provide incentives to exporters to repatriate their earnings to help the country reverse declining dollar inflows caused by low oil production and fleeing foreign investors avoiding the country’s restrictions around dollar outflows and multiple exchange rates.