Amid the free fall of the Naira, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, says it has concluded the payment of all verified forex backlog owed foreign airlines with the release of an additional $64.44 million.
Hakama Sidi-Ali, CBN’s acting director of corporate communications, disclosed this on Tuesday.
Sidi-Ali said the latest amount paid to the airlines brought the total verified sum disbursed to the sector to $136.73 million.
Media Talk Africa recalls that the apex bank released $500 million to clear the forex backlog.
The development comes barely a week after the banker’s bank injected approximately $2 billion to settle outstanding commitments across the manufacturing, aviation, and petroleum sectors.
In December last year, the International Air Transport Association threatened to expel Nigeria over the $790 million trapped fund.
Meanwhile, despite the forex release, the country’s Naira had continued to experience a free fall against the US dollar, reaching a historic low of N1,348.63 at the official market and N1,450 at the parallel market.
Posted in African Business News
