The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced the final payment of all verified claims by airlines with an additional $64.44 million paid to the affected airlines in fulfillment of its pledge to clear the backlog of foreign exchange (FX) owed foreign airlines in the country.
Confirming the payment on Tuesday, the Acting Director of Corporate Communications at the CBN, Mrs. Hakama Sidi Ali, disclosed that the latest amount paid to the airlines brought the total verified amount paid to that sector to $136.73 million.
She confirmed that with the payment on Tuesday, all the verified airlines’ claims had now been cleared.
According to her, the CBN Governor, Dr. Olayemi Cardoso, and his team were committed to and would ensure that the verified backlog of payments across all other sectors were cleared and by so doing restore confidence in the Nigerian foreign exchange market.
In addition, she assured that the CBN was working with stakeholders to ensure liquidity improves within the forex market, thereby reducing pressure on the Naira.
While expressing optimism that the market would respond positively to the latest injection of over $64 million, the Director urged all operators in the FX market to guard against currency speculations as such actions could impact negatively on the exchange value of Naira to other foreign currencies
Sidi Ali, therefore, urged the public to support the reforms in the FX market, adding that the CBN will continue to promote orderliness and professional conduct by all participants in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market to ensure market forces determine exchange rates.
