Olayemi Cardoso, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, has revealed that $2.3 billion of the $7 billion foreign exchange backlog owed to banks, aviation, and other entities is not valid. In an exclusive interview with Arise Television, Cardoso disclosed that the bank has cleared $2.3 billion out of the valid $4.5 billion FX backlog, leaving just $2.2 billion outstanding.
Cardoso expressed astonishment at the findings, stating that approximately $2.4 billion had issues that should not have existed in the backlog. He cited infractions such as lack of valid import documents, non-existent entities, excessive allocation of funds to beneficiaries, and allocation to entities that did not request foreign exchange.
The Central Bank of Nigeria had previously released $500 million to clear the forex backlog and injected approximately $2 billion to settle outstanding commitments across the manufacturing, aviation, and petroleum sectors. Notably, the International Air Transport Association had previously threatened to expel Nigeria over a $790 million trapped fund.
In recent developments, the Naira marginally appreciated to close at N1,435.53 per Dollar after a turbulent week.
