Melvin Onwubuke
The Central Bank of Nigeria has announced it has cleared the backlog of verified, genuine, forward requests of $400 million.
This was disclosed on Tuesday, by the CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso during a media briefing after a two-day MPC meeting, where the MPR was raised by 400 basis points to 22.75 per cent compared to the previous 18.75 per cent in July 2023, according to BusinessDay.
He noted the country’s external reserve, had risen to $34 billion, compared to $33 billion it recorded at the beginning of the year.
Cardoso said “We are committed to clearing the FX backlog of identified and genuine requests that are pending. We paid $400 million FX backlogs that are so identified. We will continue to do so in one form or the other.”
“CBN has said that it will clear ‘all genuine FX backlog requests’. For as long as this remains the official line, it suggests that the FX demand backlog that does not meet the requisite hurdle will seek a route through the parallel market instead. More reassurance – perhaps in the form of positive real rates – may yet be needed to stabilise markets,” Razia Khan, managing director, Chief Economist, Africa and Middle East Global Research at Standard Chartered Bank, pointed out.
Recall, the CBN has on February 5, 2023, said it has cut down on the $7 billion FX backlog, it inherited to $2 billion and promised, work was ongoing to offset the outstanding.
