The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has hailed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the latest disbursement of $64.44 million to airlines as part of their trapped funds.
Describing the development as “encouraging” the global airlines’ body however said in a statement from its Switzerland headquarters that $700 million was still trapped in Nigeria.
“IATA welcomes the Central Bank of Nigeria’s announcement this afternoon that it has released an additional $64.44m in blocked airline funds. While this development is encouraging it’s crucial to recognise that approximately $700m remains blocked with Nigeria’s commercial banks.
“As such there’s a considerable journey ahead in fully addressing the issue. This is exacerbated by the devaluation of the Nigerian Naira, which has dropped significantly against the dollar. Airlines should not be unfairly penalised by the lower exchange rate.
“We will continue to monitor the situation closely and work with the government to ensure that the environment remains conducive to ensuring Nigeria’s connectivity to international markets,” it said.
Recall that the CBN said yesterday that it had concluded the payment of all verified claims by foreign airlines with the payment of an additional $64.44 million to concerned airlines.
The central bank said the development had brought the total verified amount paid to the air transport sector to $136.73 million.
In a statement by its acting director of corporate communications, Mrs Hakama Ali entitled ‘FX Backlog: CBN concludes payment of all verified claims by airlines,’ the apex bank said it had fulfilled its pledge to clear the backlog of foreign exchange owed foreign airlines in the country” by concluding “the payment of all verified claims by airlines with an additional $64.44 million to the concerned airlines.”
The statement said the CBN governor, Mr Olayemi Cardoso, and his team were doubly committed and would stop at nothing to ensure that the verified backlog of payments across all other sectors was cleared and confidence was restored in the Nigerian foreign exchange market.
Ali assured Nigerians that the CBN was working with stakeholders to ensure liquidity improves within the forex market to reduce pressure on the naira.
