Foreign airlines receives $61 million from CBN, clearing their forex backlog.

Through a number of commercial banks, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has transferred $61.64 million to international airlines.

Mrs. Hakama Sidi-Ali, the bank’s interim director of corporate communications, made the announcement on Sunday in Abuja.

The distribution, according to Sidi-Ali, is the central bank’s (CBN) promise to clear the banks of their outstanding maturing foreign currency.

According to her, the CBN is trying to lower its remaining liabilities to the airlines through this approach.

As Sidi-Ali pointed out, the CBN has redeemed about two billion dollars worth of outstanding forward liabilities in the last three months.

This also demonstrates the CBN’s determination to settle outstanding debts and maintain a stable currency market.

These payments represent CBN’s continuous endeavours to resolve all outstanding legitimate forward transactions, in an effort to reduce the present strain on the country’s currency rate.

“Investor confidence in the Nigerian economy is expected to rise, and the Naira’s value relative to other major world currencies is expected to be much enhanced,” she stated.

It is estimated that foreign airlines have a total of around 800 million dollars in locked funds in the country.

Since this is mainly a matter of ticket income, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has threatened that certain international airlines may be compelled to leave the Nigerian markets unless action is taken.

According to the group, the Nigerian government has the world’s largest stash of airline-trapped funds right now.