…“Problems Associated
With Repatriation Forgone”-DG NCAA
The Nigerian Civil
Aviation Authority (NCAA) has recognised the efforts of the Minister of State
(Aviation) Hon. Hadi Sirika in securing a special Foreign Exchange allocation
for airlines operating from and in Nigeria, through the Central Bank of
Nigeria.
According to a statement
on behalf of NCAA by Sam Adurogboye, the General Manager on Public Relations,
“The Honourable Minister of State for Aviation, Honourable Hadi Sirika, has
finally secured a special sectorial allocation of forex for Airline Operators
in the Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) for Airline operators”.
"This is to further
engender market confidence, ensure access to forex by the airlines and sustain
the integrity of the Nigerian Inter-bank forex market.
The Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) has resolved pursuant to the Minister’s show of concern to
intervene in the inter-bank forex market through forward settlement”.
For clarity, the Special
Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) – Retail is an important one-off
exercise dedicated to the clearance of the backlog of matured forex obligation
for airlines.
Adurogboye also said that
, “It is however worthy to note that other sectors were similarly availed
priority in the inter-bank forex market. These are Raw Materials and
machineries for manufacturing companies and Agricultural chemicals.
It will be recalled that
the Director General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) had earlier led
a delegation of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) to hold meetings with the
Ministers of State for Aviation, Finance and their Petroleum counterparts
including the CBN Governor”.
“As a result of the
meeting, Honourable Sirika was able to extricate for the foreign airlines 50
per cent clearance of their forex obligations. This present success is another
step ahead in seamless operations in the aviation industry.
It is expected that this
is a major window for those airlines who had earlier ceased their operations to
recommence in earnest”.
Citing the succor attached
to the FX intervention for the airlines, Adurogboye said, “with this
intervention comes a landmark incentive for both local and foreign operators to
carry out safe, secure and lucrative operations in Nigeria.
In addition, all scheduled
and mandatory checks which are done in the diasporas will be undertaken with
this leverage at a reduced cost”.
“The Director General of the Regulatory Authority, NCAA,
therefore expects the foreign operators to carry out their operations with
renewed vigour."
Adurogboye relays DG's words on trapped funds. "According to him (DG), all
problems associated with repatriation is now a foregone conclusion. He advised
all Airline Operators to take full advantage of this laudable gesture of the
Federal Government of Nigeria and adhere strictly to the provisions of the
Bilateral Air Services (BASA) with Nigeria”.
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