Relief is on the way for exporters as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said, it would review the policy on utilization of export proceeds so as to improve its flexibility.
Deputy Director, Trade and Exchange Department of the CBN, Olu Vincent gave the revelation during the recent Guaranty Trust Bank Plc’s 2017 non-oil export workshop held in Lagos.
According to GTBank, the workshop aimed to provide an avenue for all stakeholders to address lingering issues affecting the non-oil export business in Nigeria. One of the major points of discussion was the utilization of export proceeds.
CBN noted at the conference that “The customer has a responsibility of bringing back the export proceed, therefore in order for the banks to accommodate the penalty from the banks they need to create a pool whereby until you repatriate the export proceeds, you will not have access to the money.”
While assuring on the review of the policy, Vincent implored exporters to ensure they repatriate their export proceeds.
He assured further that the CBN had been under pressure on issues bordering on export expansion grant (EEG) to restore it.
He however explained that the CBN was against it because it was being abused, saying the apex bank does not have the powers to prosecute even though it was the wish of the bank to reintroduce the EEG.
