CBN releases $400m to clear FX backlog

The governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso revealed that a total of $400 million was paid on Tuesday to settle some outstanding foreign exchange (FX) commitments.

Cardoso disclosed this during a press conference after heading his first monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting of the apex bank.

According to him, “…and I can tell you, just today, we paid out $400 million to those that have been so identified.”

The economist said the CBN will only settle identified and genuine requests, as it is not in the interest of the regulator to hold back payment from those that have been identified.

“In terms of the backlog, we are committed in clearing the backlog of identified and genuine requests that are pending,” he said.

With the settlement made on Tuesday, Cardoso said “we are committed to doing further to those that are genuinely identified and proven cases”.

Prior to the recent payment, CBN had disclosed on January 29, 2024, that $500 million had been released to various sectors to address the backlog of verified FX transactions.

Also, on January 7, CBN said $61.64 million was disbursed to foreign airlines through various banks.

Meanwhile, on February 5, Cardoso said he inherited a $7 billion FX backlog when he became CBN governor in September 2023, however, it has dropped to $2.2 billion.