CBN Urges Private Sector Operators To Repatriate FX Earning To Reduce Pressure

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has urged the repatriation of foreign exchange (FX) profits through legitimate means to relieve pressure on the naira.

This was said by Egboagwu Ezulu, CBN deputy director, banking services, at the Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks (ACAMBinaugural )’s stakeholders’ conference on Wednesday in Lagos.

Importers are dumping currency overseas, according to Ezulu.

“We are taking FX out of this country and dumping them offshore; when we were told to bring them back. If Nigerians were bringing back FX, we would not be talking about the challenges of FX. There is a challenge for individuals and businesses to do the right thing,” Ezulu said.

“That is why the CBN introduced the RT200 to encourage you to bring back the dollar you are saying is scarce, but in the books of the banks, we see billions of dollars that have been exported out of the country, and the OPS is not bringing it back, so how do we finance FX demand?”

Ezulu advised the Organized Private Sector (OPS) to make use of the CBN’s multiple intervention plans administered by the Bank of Industry (BOI), the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), and commercial banks to increase production.

He recommended they approach the two organizations for low-interest loans in the single digits.

“When you talk about financing small businesses, the CBN has done a lot of funding to the sector, alluding to trillions of naira, and has established two entities for this purpose,” the CBN deputy director said.

“Has the manufacturing sector approached the entities for the funds available rather than emphasizing the commercial banks?

“The manufacturing sector should put pressure on the Bank of Industry and Development Bank of Nigeria to source funds, and when we see a lot of pressure from those two entities, the CBN, instead of going through commercial banks, would push those funds to those two entities rather than going to the commercial banks who would give double-digit loans.

“I want to appeal that industrialists, as well as small businesses, should approach those two entities to get funding.”

Rasheed Bolarinwa, president of ACAMD, stated that the banking sector and the OPS were the primary drivers of the nation’s economy.

He did, however, clarify that there is a mutual misunderstanding between the two sectors and that all efforts to bridge the apparent divide have been futile.

“One galvanizes the credit from the surplus side and redistributes it to the deficit size. The other one operates principally from the productive side, creating wealth and value. Thus, the two sectors are like two sides of a coin,” he said.

“They are co-joined and must function together in an economic sense. So, there is a nexus; a link between the two at all times if any economy is to develop and grow. “

On Wednesday, the official site of the market swapped the local currency for N429/$. It finished at N660/$ on the illicit market, where many think the money is represented.