CBN pays $61.6m in forex backlog to foreign airlines

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released $61.6 million to foreign airlines through various Deposit Money Banks (DMBs).

The CBN’s Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Mrs. Hakama Sidi-Ali, who disclosed this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, said the disbursement was a fulfilment of the apex bank’s promise to settle the backlog of pending matured foreign exchange in DMBs.

She said the CBN had in the last three months settled outstanding liabilities of close to $2 billion.

The Federal Government had pegged the total trapped funds of foreign airlines in the country at about $800 million.

This development forced some foreign airlines to leave the Nigerian markets in 2022.

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The statement read: “This underscores the CBN’s commitment to the resolution of pending obligations and a functional foreign exchange market.

“These payments signify CBN’s ongoing efforts to settle all remaining valid forward transactions to alleviate the current pressure on the country’s exchange rate.

“It is anticipated that this initiative would provide a considerable boost to the Naira against other major world currencies and further increase investor confidence in the Nigerian economy.”

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