Forex, CBN,The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reportedly started fulfilling President Bola Tinubu’s promise to clear the estimated $7 billion outstanding foreign exchange obligations of the Federal Government. The obligations are for foreign currency forwards contracts owed to banks. According to Reuters, the apex bank’s spokesperson, Dr. Isah Abdulmumin, confirmed the development and revealed that an initial payment of $1 billion had been made.
During the 29th edition of the Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, President Tinubu stated that all foreign exchange future contracts will be honoured by the government. He assured the business community that plans are underway to improve foreign exchange liquidity, and his administration will honour every legitimate contract with respect to the nation’s foreign exchange obligations.
Abdulmumin revealed that the CBN has started paying the FX backlogs to banks, and so far, 14 banks have received payments. However, he declined to give the amount or name the banks. According to anonymous banking sources, the banks were paid varying amounts totalling about $1 billion, and the payments would continue in the next few weeks. Some banks received the entire amount owed, while others got as much as 80% of the backlog.
CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso, said at the Economic Summit that clearing the backlog was a priority, but he gave no timeline for how long it would take.
