After months of agitation, the federal
government has included airlines in the Interbank Foreign Exchange
Market. By this development, airlines would now be given priority when
they request for foreign exchange, along with others also shortlisted.
Minister of State, Aviation,
Senator Hadi Sirika, who made this known at the weekend, said that this
was made possible following the dogged efforts of his Ministry, the
airlines through the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) and his personal
negotiations.
Since last year, the airlines had been
pushing for this inclusion because everything about aircraft management
and repairs is imported, including training and even manpower
engagement.
“This is after much intervention on
behalf of the airlines both foreign and domestic. The Central Bank has
yielded and we are happy because this means a lot to us and the
airlines. They have been going through a lot and we are so happy that
this is will be a huge succor to their operations”, Sirika said.
In a circular sent by CBN to the
concerned sectors, it said: “In order to further engender market
confidence, ensure access to FX by end users and sustain the integrity
of the Nigerian Inter-bank FX market, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
has resolved to intervene in the Inter-bank FX market through forward
settlement.”
The inclusion of airlines in the interbank market was designated as Special Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS).
CBN explained that the exercise was to
clear backlog of the sectors concerned adding, “This is an important
one-off exercise dedicated to the clearance of the backlog of matured FX
obligations for: Raw materials and machineries for manufacturing
companies; agricultural chemicals; and airlines”.
Since early this year, Sirika has
facilitated meetings between AON and the CBN, Nigeria Customs Service
and the Ministry of Petroleum resources on how to enhance airline
operation, secure forex, tariff waiver and access to aviation fuel at
cheaper prices.
The Managing Director of Arik Air, Mr.
Chris Ndulue, who confirmed the inclusion of the airlines in the
interbank forex market, said Arik was notified about the change at the
weekend.
“Our bank told us yesterday that airlines
have been included in the interbank forex market and they asked us to
now make our request for forex because all the ones we had made in the
past did not receive positive response, so we are going to make a new
request,” he said.
“We have been agitating for this for a
long time. The banks told us that both manufacturers and airlines have
been included so we need to reapply. But this is still a promise until
it happens,” Ndulue said.
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