The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Bankers’ Committee have unanimously agreed to extend special facilities to Nigerian-registered airlines and the media industry in the country to enable them adequately address the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The CBN Director Corporate Communications, Mr Isaac Okorafor, made this known in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday.
Okorafor said the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, announced this while addressing the Bank Chief Executives at the bi-monthly virtual meeting of the Bankers’ Committee on Tuesday.
Emefiele urged the banks to do all within their powers to support airlines in the country, noting that such support was critical to helping the industry recover from the economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Similarly, the apex bank’s governor also advised the banks to support the efforts of the media industry in Nigeria to cope with the lingering pandemic in order to avoid massive job losses in the industry.
Newsmen recalls that CBN, in the advent of the coronavirus in Nigeria, announced a N1.2 trillion intervention funds to support critical sectors of the economy, one trillion naira of which was to support local manufacturing sector and to boost import substitution.
The remaining N100 billion of the intervention fund was to support the health sector in equipping laboratories and enhancing research to produce vaccines and test kits in Nigeria.
The Bank, also in March 2020, unveiled guidelines for the implementation of a N100 billion Targeted Credit Facility (TCF) as a stimulus package to support households and micro, small and medium enterprises affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
