The Central Bank of Nigeria has disclosed that it has concluded payment of all verified claims by airlines with an additional $64.44m to the concerned airlines.
The payment is partly to fulfil the pledge made by the Apex bank to clear the backlog of foreign exchange owed foreign airlines in the country
CNN’s Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Mrs. Hakama Sidi Ali, confirmed this in a statement on Tuesday
CBN’s forward contract obligations to banks stood at $7bn, according to reports.
The delay in the debt repayment had been blamed on the current volatility in the forex market, a situation that has led to the falling value of the naira against the US dollar.
The CBN earlier paid $2 billion to clear a part of its backlog of matured foreign exchange obligations to the Deposit Money Banks.
Foreign airlines in Nigeria have struggled with the challenge of repatriating their ticket sales in foreign exchange.
The situation has resulted in a substantial backlog, reaching billions of dollars.
Sidi noted that the latest amount paid to the airlines brought the total verified amount paid to that sector to $136.73m. She added that all the verified airline claims had now been cleared.
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