Connect with us

Business

CBN, Bankers’ Committee to support airlines, media industry

Published

on

Nigeria saved $21bn in food import since 2015 -CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Bankers’ Committee, which is made up of the chief executives of Nigerian banks and the directors of different units of the apex bank, have resolved to offer special facilities to airlines registered in Nigeria and the media industry in the country to enable them deal with the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis.

A statement issued by Principal Manager, Corporate Communications Department of the CBN, Olalekan Ajayi, said the agreement, which was reached at the prompting of the apex bank’s governor, Godwin Emefiele, was made on Tuesday.

It declared that Mr Emefiele, in the course of addressing banks’ chief executives at the bi-monthly virtual meeting of the Bankers’ Committee, enjoined the banks to do all they could to support airlines in Nigeria.

Read also: In bid to control dollar supply, Bankers’ Committee orders oil firms to sell FX to CBN alone

He stressed that the support was significant to helping the sector recover from the shocks induced by the outbreak of the pandemic in Nigeria.

Similarly, he appealed to the banks’ chiefs to back efforts taken by the media industry to cope with the pandemic and avert sweeping job losses in the sector.

The CBN had announced a N1.2 trillion stimulus package to rescue critical economic sectors in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in Nigeria. N1 trillion out of the fund was set apart to bolster the manufacturing sector and facilitate import substitution.

In March, the regulator released the guidelines for the implementation of a N100 billion Targeted Credit Facility, aimed at supporting households and micro, small and medium enterprises severely affected by the pandemic.

Tuesday’s decision seemed a fulfilment of the optimism of the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, who earlier said the ministry was confident that businesses in the Nigerian aviation industry would be offered the chance of accessing palliatives from the CBN.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now