By Yahaya Umar
A total of N317.8bn has been disbursed for airline and power sector related projects in the last 14 years, according to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria ,CBN.
The amount was disbursed under the Power and Airlines Intervention Fund ,PAIF, according to a document seen news men. The apex bank also disclosed that the programme has been closed.
The closure is part of the commitment of the current leadership of CBN under Olayemi Cardoso to stop monetary interventions adopted by Godwin Emefiele to focus on its core mandate of price stability.
The PAIF was established in 2010 with the mandate to help fast-track the development of electric power projects, especially in the identified industrial clusters in the country and fast-track the development of the aviation sector of the Nigerian economy by improving the terms of credit to airlines.
According to the CBN, out of the N317.8bn total disbursement, a total of N196.99bn or 68 per cent was released to fund power projects.
The apex bank disclosed that as of November 2024, a total of 51 power projects were funded from the intervention.
Airline projects received 38 per cent which is N120.8bn of the PAIF fund for the execution of 24 projects, the apex bank disclosed.
The CBN said, “The sum of N500bn was approved by the Monetary Policy Committee in 2010 for investments in debentures issued by the Bank of Industry ,B01, out of which the sum of N300bn would finance power and airline projects and N200bn for RRF.
“PAIF was designed as part of the quantitative easing measure to address the paucity of long-term credit and acute power shortage in the country”.
The bank further disclosed that a total of N270.7bn has been repaid by the obligors leaving a balance of N47bn.
The bank added, “Out of the cumulative sum of N317.759 disbursed, the total principal repayment received under the PAIF since inception stood at N270,677,472,076.68.
“The sum of N47.08bn outstanding loan balance has been converted to equity. The intervention has been closed out”.
