BY Busola Aro
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says an independent forensic review of the foreign exchange (FX) backlog revealed “grave infractions, gross abuse and noncompliance” with market rules.
Disclosing the development in a statement on Wednesday, Hakama Sidi-Ali, CBN’s director of corporate communications, said the culprits will be punished.
The discovery comes amid a probe by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on the FX transactions of 52 companies.
The commission is said to be investigating FX allocations to these companies during the tenure of Godwin Emefiele as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
In September 2023, CBN had asked commercial banks to stop utilising gains from the revaluation of the naira to pay dividends or finance operations, following the implementation of the unification of trading windows, and other sweeping market policies.
“Appropriate sanctions will be enforced on offenders, in collaboration with relevant agencies,” Sidi-Ali said.
“The central bank is committed to cleaning up the financial services industry to boost market confidence.”
Sidi-Ali, however, said the CBN would continue to settle legitimate FX backlogs and clear outstanding liabilities.
According to the CBN spokesperson, the apex bank has cleared the entire FX forwards liability of 14 banks so far, and settlements with foreign airlines have also now begun.
She said about $2 billion of the backlog across sectors such as manufacturing, aviation, and petroleum have been paid.
On November 2, 2023, the apex bank began clearing if forex backlog estimated at $7 billion.
Some banks such as Stanbic IBTC, Citi Bank, Standard Chartered, Keystone, and the United Bank for Africa (UBA), amongst others, were part of the first set to receive payments.
The financial regulator, on January 7, 2024, also announced that $61.64 million was paid to foreign airlines through various banks.
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