Soothing news came the way of Nigeria-registered airlines and the media on Tuesday, as the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele and the Bankers’ Committee unanimously agreed to extend special facilities to them, as they battle the ravaging effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Addressing the Bank Chief Executives at the bi-monthly virtual meeting of the Bankers’ Committee, Emefiele urged the banks to do all within their powers to support airlines in the country, noting that such support was critical to helping the industry recover from the economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Similarly, Emefiele urged the banks to support the efforts of the media industry in Nigeria, to cope with the lingering pandemic, in order to avoid massive job losses in the industry.
The apex bank had announced a N1.2 trillion intervention fund to support critical sectors of the economy, N1 trillion of which was to support the local manufacturing sector and to boost import substitution. The remaining N100 billion of the intervention fund was to support the health sector in equipping laboratories and enhancing research to produce vaccines and test kits in Nigeria. The Bank, also in March 2020, unveiled guidelines for the implementation of a N100 billion Targeted Credit Facility (TCF) as a stimulus package to support households and micro, small and medium enterprises affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, Tuesday’s move by the CBN and the Bankers’ Committee might just be an answer to the optimism expressed by the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, who said the ministry was hopeful that businesses in Nigeria’s aviation sector would be given the opportunity to access palliatives from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
With support expected for the media in Nigeria, many media houses will be able to weather the storm generated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, Emefiele has disclosed plans to meet the Chief Executives of multinational companies in Nigeria, to discuss the revamp of Nigerian exports through deliberate policies that would boost investment and job creation.
While decrying the situation where many Nigerian produce of export quality was waiting to be tapped, Emefiele said the CBN, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, would ensure the facilitation of a reboot of the Nigerian export market.
Alluding to President Muhammadu Buhari’s charge for Nigerians to produce what they eat and eat what they produce, the CBN Governor reiterated that the country had no choice but to diversify its economic base away from heavy reliance on crude oil.
The meeting is expected to come up with a roadmap on how best to revitalize the export sector in order to earn foreign exchange for the country, as well as generate jobs for millions of Nigerians.
Emefiele had earlier initiated a campaign tagged ‘Produce, Add Value and Export’ (PAVE), especially for the agricultural produce.
In another development, the apex bank has directed all banks in the country to submit the names, addresses and Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) of exporters that have defaulted in repatriating their exports proceeds, for further action.
The directive issued by the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, comes barely 24 hours after the Bank announced the abolition of third-party “Form M” payment.
The move by the CBN followed the adoption of the strategy to discourage over-invoicing, which some businesses have allegedly used to divert foreign exchange from the country, through the opening of “Forms M” for which payment is routed through a buying company, agent, or other third parties.
The statement signed by the Bank’s Director of Trade and Exchange, Dr Ozoemena Nnaji, had also explained that the directive was aimed at ensuring prudent use of Nigeria’s foreign exchange resources and the elimination of incidences of over-invoicing, transfer pricing, double handling charges and avoidable costs that are ultimately passed to the average Nigerian consumer.
The CBN, in the past, had also warned exporters conducting export activity against diverting foreign exchange from the export proceeds, instead of repatriating same home.
The Bank, in collaboration with the Bankers’ Committee, had threatened heavy sanctions against exporters who failed to repatriate foreign exchange proceeds from their international business. The CBN stressed that its Foreign Exchange Manual provided that all exporters should repatriate export proceeds back to the country to support the local currency and boost the economy.
Meanwhile, analysts say that a number of punitive options are open to the CBN, including, but not limited to, barring the exporters from the foreign exchange market and other banking services.
