26th August, 2022
By Kadiri Abdulrahman
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Friday, released the sum of $265 million to airlines operating in the country to settle outstanding ticket sales remittances.
The Director, Corporate Communications Department of CBN, Mr. Osita Nwanisobi made this known.
According to him, the gesture is aimed at checking the crisis in the country’s aviation sector.
A breakdown of the figure indicates that $230 million was released as a special FX intervention, while another $35 million was released through the Retail SMIS auction.
Nwanisobi said that the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, and his team were concerned about the development and what it portends for the sector as well as travellers.
He said that the apex bank was not against any company repatriating its funds from the country.
“What the CBN stands for is an orderly exit for those that might be interested in doing so,” he said.
According to Nwanisobi, with the release, it is expected that operators and travellers will heave huge sighs of relief.
Some foreign airlines operating in Nigeria have threatened to withdraw their services in the face of outstanding sales of tickets.
Emirates said it would stop flying into and out of Nigeria from 1 September.
NAN