The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released a tranche of $265 million to local airlines to settle unpaid ticket sales in an apparent effort to quell a crisis that has been building in the country’s aviation industry.
According to a breakdown of the number that was made public on Friday, $230 million was granted as a special forex intervention, and another $35 million was made available through the Retail SMIS auction.
The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, and his staff were worried about the development and what it portended for the sector, passengers, and the country in the comity of nations, according to Mr. Osita Nwanisobi, Director of Corporate Communications at the CBN, who confirmed the release.
Nwanisobi reaffirmed that the Bank supported an orderly withdrawal for anybody who would be interested in doing so, and added that the Apex Bank was not opposed to any corporation repatriating money out of the country.
Operators and passengers alike are presumed to exhale sighs of relief following Friday’s announcement, as several airlines had threatened to stop operating due to unpaid money from pending ticket sales.
Check Also: Nigerian aviation sector’s plague of flight delays, cancellations
