The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that it has begun the disbursement of $61 million to foreign airlines, News About Nigeria reports.
The bank’s acting director of corporate communications, Mrs. Hakama Sidi-Ali, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.
She noted that the bank is carrying out this disbursement through the various deposit money banks (DMBs) in the country.
According to her, the disbursement is in a bid to fulfil the commitment of the Central Bank to ensure that the backlog of pending matured foreign exchange in DMBs is eliminated.
She further noted that the Central Bank is committed to the resolution of pending obligations and a functional foreign exchange market, adding that these payments will settle all remaining valid forward transactions and, at the same time, alleviate the current pressure on the country’s exchange rate.
Sidi-Ali also stated that the disbursement of funds to foreign airlines will provide a considerable boost to the Naira against other major world currencies and further increase the confidence of investors in the Nigerian economy, maintaining that this will aid growth and development in the country.
She disclosed that the CBN, in the past three months, has also redeemed outstanding forward liabilities of close to $2 billion.
Recall that the funds of foreign airlines that have been trapped in the country are estimated to be about 800 million dollars.
These trapped funds have led to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) threatening that some foreign airlines may be forced to quit the Nigerian markets if nothing is done about the monies, which are primarily from ticket revenue.
