Minister of State,Aviation,Senator, Hadi Sirika
The Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, has finally secured a special sectorial allocation of forex for airline operators in the Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS).
A statement signed by the General Manager of Public Relations, Mr Sam Adurogboye, stated the concession is to further engender market confidence, ensure access to forex by the airlines and sustain the integrity of the Nigerian Inter-bank forex market.
He stated that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had resolved pursuant to the minister’s show of concern to intervene in the inter-bank forex market through forward settlement.
Adurogboye added that 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.
The NCAA spokesman however stated that other sectors were similarly availed priority in the inter-bank forex market.
Sectors that have enjoyed the forex concession according to Adurogboye include: raw materials and machineries for manufacturing companies and agricultural chemicals.
Adurogboye recalled that the Director General OF NCAA (NCAA), Capt Usman Muhktar 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.
He further stated that as a result of the meeting, Sirika was able to extricate for the foreign airlines 50 per cent clearance of their forex obligations, adding that 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, which had earlier ceased their operations to recommence in earnest.
He said that with this intervention comes a landmark incentive for both local and foreign operators to carry out safe, secure and lucrative operations in Nigeria.
The spokesman stated in addition, all scheduled and mandatory checks, which were done in the Diasporas would be undertaken with this leverage at a reduced cost.
The Director General of the regulatory authority therefore expects the foreign operators to carry out their operations with renewed vigour.
According to him, all problems associated with repatriation is now a foregone conclusion, advising 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.
