N30bn Loan To Exporters by NEXIM

The Managing Director of Nigeria Export and Import Bank (NEXIM), Mr Roberts Orya, yesterday informed the Nigerian House of Representatives that the bank would release N30billion to Nigerian exporters to enable them perform optimally in the export trade sector of the economy in 2012.

This is just as the House of Representatives committee on Works has expressed dismay over the poor funding of road projects in the country.

Speaking during the budget defence session of the bank before the House Committee on Banking and Currency on Monday, Orya said the bank has set a target to generate N1.65billion within the same period.

According to Mr Orya, those who qualify to benefit from the support fund which is in form of loans, are players in manufacturing, agricultural, solid minerals and service sectors. The NEXIM boss however pointed out that the bank’s 2012 budget has a major challenge in area of debt recovery, noting that the bank was doing all it could in relation to commercial debt collection.

He said some of the debts were as old as 5 to 10 years and some were even from the banks that were liquidated in the early 1990s by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC).

Mr Roberts Orya, Managing Director of Nexis, said:

“Some of the debt being owed the bank span between 10 to 15 years, and that the bank was only able to recover N418 million out of about N1.9 billion it had planned to recover in year 2011.”

“Low levels of debt recovery has been the major challenge of NEXIM and we hope that this year we should be able to do much better.”