CBN Moves To Sanction Exporters Who Don’t Repatriate Proceeds
To Extend Special Facilities To Airlines, Media
UDO ONYEKA
The Central Bank of Nigeria, in collaboration with banks operating in the country has threatened to impose heavy sanctions on exporters who have failed to repatriate foreign exchange proceeds from their international business.
The CBN in the light of the above has directed all banks in the country to submit the names, addresses and Bank Verification Numbers of exporters that had defaulted in repatriating their exports proceeds for further action. The apex bank on Tuesday said the action was part of its effort to stabilise and increase foreign exchange liquidity in the country.
The directive issued by the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, on Tuesday during the bi-monthly virtual meeting of the Bankers’ Committee, came barely 24 hours after announcing the abolition of third-party ‘Form M’ payment.
The apex has begun adopting strategy to discourage over-invoicing, which some businesses had allegedly used to divert forex from the country through the opening of ‘Forms M’ for which payment were routed through a buying company, agent, or other third parties.
Meanwhile the CBN and Banks have agreed to extend special facilities to Nigerian-registered airlines and the media industry in Nigeria to enable them to address the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The CBN said the agreement, which was on the prompting of its Governor, Godwin Emefiele, was made on Tuesday. It said Emefiele, while addressing banks’ chief executives at the bi-monthly virtual meeting of the Bankers’ Committee meeting, urged the banks to do all within their powers to support airlines in Nigeria. The CBN boss said such support was critical to helping the industry recover from the economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The CBN in a statement issued by Principal Manager, Corporate Communications Department, Olalekan Ajayi, urged the banks to support the efforts of the media industry to cope with the lingering pandemic and avoid massive job losses in the sector.
