The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced it has settled all legitimate foreign exchange backlogs, fulfilling one of the major promises of its Governor, Olayemi Cardoso. The governor of the apex bank had pledged, upon assuming office, to process and clear all inherited claims totaling about US$7 billion.
In a statement by Hakama Sidi Ali, CBN’s Acting Director of Corporate Communications, the bank recently concluded the payment of $1.5 billion to settle obligations to bank customers, effectively settling the residual balance of the FX backlog.
She claimed independent auditors from Deloitte Consulting were charged with assessing all transactions, ensuring only legitimate claims were honoured. She further stated all invalid transactions have been referred to the relevant authorities for further scrutiny.
The CBN had prioritized the clearing of FX backlog to restore credibility and confidence in the Nigerian economy, the governor of the bank said recently “it was important that we go through an independent and credible process that would determine the authenticity of those obligations, and, at this point, I can tell you that we have now cleared all genuine, verifiable transactions. This encumbrance to market confidence in the country’s ability to meet its obligations is now totally behind us”
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s external reserves rose significantly by $993 million to $34.11 billion as of March 7th, 2024, the highest level in almost a year.
The month-on-month increase, experts say, was driven by a marked advance in remittances from abroad and higher purchases of local assets, including government debt securities, by foreign investors.
