The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, has announced that the Federal Government has cleared the outstanding $7 billion foreign exchange backlog owed to various firms.
Cardoso made this known on Wednesday at the launch of Nigeria’s Regulatory Policy Framework, organized by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council at the State House Conference Hall in Abuja.
He explained that the clearance followed a verification exercise conducted by forensic auditors and would help businesses, multinationals, and foreign investors repatriate funds more easily.
“In addressing foreign exchange liquidity constraints, decisive steps have been taken to clear the outstanding $7bn forex backlog. This move will ensure that businesses and investors can repatriate funds seamlessly,” Cardoso said.
He admitted that the process took longer than expected but emphasized that it was necessary to separate genuine claims from questionable ones.
“We have cleared the verified claims. As for the unverified ones, we are in the final stages of identifying which qualify as fully verified, and we will surely pay those that have been confirmed by forensic auditors,” he said.
Cardoso also noted that past irregularities contributed to the delay, saying, “It is unfortunate that this has taken so long, but the truth is that many improper practices took place that should never have happened. Moving forward, we will strengthen our market to build investor confidence.”
Speaking at the event, PEBEC Director-General, Princess Zahrah Audu, stressed the need for a stable and predictable policy environment for businesses.
“We are going to help you become part of the policy-making process. One of the things we encourage our MDAs to do is to engage with stakeholders in smaller groups before making policies,” Audu said.
She added that the Tinubu administration was committed to doing things differently by seeking business owners’ input.
“It is important to balance government and private sector perspectives. Our doors will always be open, and we will be very responsive to concerns,” she assured.
