President of Aviation Roundtable and Safety Initiative, Dr. Gabriel Olowo yesterday called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele to consider a barter arrangement with countries whose airlines’ funds are trapped in Nigeria.
His call follows the growing blocked funds; being proceeds of ticket sales by foreign airlines, which the International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimated to $810m with Nigeria topping the list of countries with blocked funds.
The funds have continued to grow since last year even as pressure continues to mount on the CBN to release the trapped funds as stipulated in the bilateral air service agreements (BASAs) with those countries.
Following the scarcity of foreign exchange to clear the funds, the ART President believes a barter arrangement would save Nigeria the current global embarrassment.
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In a message to the CBN governor, he said, “This ever growing Airline Home Remittance and its attendant embarrassment on NG by IATA, will it be out of place to think of barter?
“Engage the individual government of these airlines if they will pay the airlines in exchange for our crude if legit.”
Olowo recalled that the former President, Muhammadu Buhari during his first coming, once did barter arrangement with some countries like Brazil.
He said the CBN can consider this arrangement in order to resolve the remittance crisis with the foreign airlines.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Board of Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc, Dr. Seinde Fadeni, has called on the Federal Government to release funds belonging to foreign airlines trapped in the vaults of the CBN.
Fadeni who spoke recently on the sideline of the company’s AGM in Lagos said it was just fair that those who had worked hard for their money should be allowed access to the money.
According to him, the federal government “Should speedily resolve the issue of funds belonging to the airlines. It is just fair that monies legitimately earned should be released to the operators who earn such funds.”
