“$2.4 Billion Fake Claims”: CBN Governor Discloses Reason for Naira Depreciation

• The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Olayemi Cardoso, has disclosed the reason for the pressure on the naira
• Cardoso said that the bank discovered an unverified claim of $2.4 billion, pressuring the naira
• He said a forensic audit by the bank revealed that the claims were not as the claimants do not have verifiable documents

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The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, has said that about $2.4 billion out of the Nigerian government's reported $7 billion outstanding foreign exchange liabilities still needs to be validated.

He said the amount was putting pressure on the naira and causing volatility in the FX market.

$2 billion claims are not valid

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In an interview with Arise Television, Cardoso revealed that the bank had settled verified Forex requests amounting to $2.3 billion, adding that current outstanding obligations stood at $2.2 billion.

The apex bank’s boss indicated that part of the $7 billion outstanding claims was fraudulent, stressing that the bank commissioned a forensic audit by Deloitte and found that the amount was bogus.

Cardoso said:

“The result that came out of this was startling significantly; it was pretty scary. We discovered that of the roughly $7 billion, about $2.4 had issues, which we believed had no business being there – and the infractions from that range from so many things.

CBN to pay foreign debtors soon

He said the bank would address the outstanding FX liabilities soon, stating that the bank would not pay for Forex requests that the bank did not validate.

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The CBN boss said he was not against the bank’s loan intervention schemes. He stated that liquidity injections were responsible for current distortions, including economic inflation, because they were not appropriately managed.

According to him, loans and economic advances amounted to about N40 trillion, 25% of which are CBN interventions.

ThisDay reports that the CBN governor said that the bank reduced its direct intervention in the economy because it needs to be well-thought-out so it does not destabilise the economy.

FG confirms $600 million still owed to foreign airlines

Legit.ng reported that the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace, Festus Keyamo, has clarified the issue of trapped funds belonging to foreign airlines.

The Minister said about $600 million is still held up in commercial banks, which he said is different from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) direct obligations.

According to reports, Keyamo stated that the original debt to foreign airlines was about $700 million, of which the apex bank has successfully cleared about $136.73 million, with the remaining balance concerning transactions foreign airlines conducted with commercial banks.

Source: Legit.ng