The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has approved a Special Secondary Market Intervention Retail Sales (SMIS) outlet for airlines operating in the country. A statement from the Deputy Director, Press & Public Affairs, Ministry of Transportation, Mr. James Odaudu, said the exercise was dedicated to the clearance of the backlog of matured foreign exchange obligations. Also to benefit from the intervention are raw materials and machineries for manufacturing companies and agricultural chemicals.
Odaudu said the resolution of the apex bank to intervene in the inter-bank forex market through forward settlement was expected to engender market confidence, ensure access to forex by the airlines to settle their obligations and sustain the integrity of the Nigerian Inter-Bank foreign exchange market.

The import of this exercise is that the CBN will not apply the relevant provisions under Clause 2.4.3 (i) of its revised guidelines for the operation of the Nigerian inter-bank foreign exchange market which provides that all SMIS bids shall be submitted to the CBN through the FXPDs. Consequently, the CBN will receive bids from all authorized dealers.