Following threats by foreign airlines to trim flights or totally shut down their operations in Nigeria, the Central Bank of Nigeria has made available $265m to offset the backlog of ticket sales.
The CBN director of corporate communications Osita Nwanisobi disclosed on Friday that the situation with the airlines was worrisome and the bank had to intervene. He said: “With Friday’s release, it is expected that operators and travelers as well will heave huge sighs of relief, as some airlines had threatened to withdraw their services in the face of unremitted funds for outstanding sale of tickets.”
A breakdown of the figure indicates that the sum of $230 million was released as special FX intervention while another sum of $35 million was released through Retail SMIS auction.