CBN says all airlines' verified payment claims concluded

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it has concluded the payment of all verified claims by airlines with an additional $64.44 million in its efforts to clear the backlog of foreign exchange owed foreign airlines in the country.

Confirming the figures on Tuesday, January 30, Hakama Sidi Ali, acting director of corporate communications at the CBN, noted that the latest amount paid to the airlines brought the total verified amount paid to that sector to $136.73 million. She added that all the verified airline claims had now been cleared.

According to her, the CBN governor, Olayemi Cardoso, committed and would stop at nothing to ensure that the verified backlog of payments across all other sectors was cleared to restore the Nigerian foreign exchange market.

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She further assured that the CBN was working with stakeholders to ensure liquidity improves within the forex market to reduce pressure on the naira.

While expressing optimism that the market would respond positively with the latest injection of over $64 million, she urged actors in the foreign exchange market to guard against speculation as such actions could hurt the naira.

Sidi Ali also urged the public to support the reforms in the foreign exchange market, adding that the CBN would continue to promote orderliness and professional conduct by all participants in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market to ensure market forces determine exchange rates.

Hope Moses-Ashike

Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks. She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings. Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.