Nigeria Will Clear FX Backlog – Tinubu Promises

President Bola Tinubu has assured Nigerians that his administration will resolve the foreign exchange (FX) backlogs through injection of funds into the market.

The president stated this at the opening of the 2023 Bank Directors’ Summit in Abuja.

Tinubu said funding of liquidity in the FX market, even though a short-term solution, remained critical for the economy at the moment.

The summit was organised by the Bank Directors Association of Nigeria (BDAN), with the theme, “Emerging Issues: Navigating the Complex Balance Between Regulation and Compliance.”

The president who was represented by the  Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun insisted there was “no reason to feel that the indications that were made earlier had changed.”

He said the government was doing everything in its power to try to attract funds that would shore up liquidity in the FX segment.

There had been concerns by stakeholders that the government appeared to have reneged on its earlier commitment to inject between $7 billion to $10 billion into the FX market to clear the existing backlogs that impaired investors’ confidence in the economy.

But Tinubu said it was only a matter of time before short, medium and long-term funds would be mobilised across the spectrum.

He stated that overregulation of the banking industry could be counter-productive and stifle innovation and added that there is a need to strike a balance between regulation and overregulation.