TheCable

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced the cessation of the RT200 rebate scheme and the Naira4Dollar remittance scheme, with effect from June 30.

The apex bank announced the development in a circular issued on Wednesday and signed by Angela Sere-Ejembi, director, financial markets department.

”The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) wishes to inform all authorized dealers and the general public of the following immediate changes to operations in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange (FX) Market: Cessation of RT200 Rebate Scheme and the Naira4Dollar Remittance Scheme, with effect from 30 June 2023,” the circular reads in part.

Launched last year, the Race to $200 billion in FX Repatriation (RT200FX) initiative was established to stimulate non-oil exports with a $200 billion FX income target in the next three to five years.

Under the scheme, a rebate of N65 for every $1 of repatriated non-oil export proceeds is paid to exporters of semi-finished and finished goods, while exporters of unprocessed items enjoy a rebate of  N25/$.

On the other hand, the Naira 4 Dollar Scheme was introduced in March 2021 as an incentive for senders and recipients of international money transfers. The policy entailed the payment of N5 for every $1 received as a remittance inflow.

Both policies were introduced by the CBN under the leadership of Godwin Emefiele, the suspended governor.

President Bola Tinubu suspended Emefiele on June 9 and directed that he transfers his responsibilities to the deputy governor, operations directorate.

Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi, the deputy governor, is expected to act as the CBN governor pending the conclusion of an investigation ordered by the president into Emefiele’s activities.

The Department of State Services (DSS) later announced that Emefiele is currently in its custody for “some investigative reasons.