After months of agitation the federal government has included airlines in the Interbank Foreign Exchange Market, which means that they would now be given priority when they request for foreign exchange, along with others also shortlisted.
The Minister of State, Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika made this known at the weekend and said that it was due to the dogged efforts of his Ministry, the airlines through the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) and his personal negotiations.
Since last year the airlines have been making requests to the federal government 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”, Senator 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 and explained, “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.
THISDAY spoke to the Managing Director of Arik Air, Mr. Chris Ndulue, who confirmed the inclusion of the airlines in the interbank forex market and 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.
He applauded the Minister’s efforts and noted that the airlines have been begging for this and it was good government has facilitated it.
“We have been applying. We need to see it happen. 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.
