The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that its bilateral currency swap agreement with China is still valid.
The CBN said the deal which was first sealed in 2018 was renewed after its expiration in 2021.
At the time of the agreement in 2018, it was valued at renminbi (RMB) 16 billion (about $2.5 billion).
The swap deal was signed by suspended governor of the apex bank, Godwin Emefiele and Yi Gang, the former PBoC governor and was designed to provide the Chinese and Nigerian currencies directly to industrialists and other businesses from both countries.
In June 2023, human rights lawyer, Femi Falana sent an FOI request to the CBN to disclose the details of the currency swap agreement.
In responding to the request, the CBN clarified that the swap deal is renewable every three years and the sum of 15 billion Chinese yuan renminbi (CNY) was the “amount usable within the year”.
The banking sector regulator said since the renewal of the deal, nine billion yuan had been “drawn”, six billion yuan utilised, while the sum of three billion yuan is outstanding.
According to the bank, out of the six billion yuan utilised, the sum of 5.10 billion yuan had been repaid, while 2.10 billion yuan had not been utilised.
“Since its renewal, CNY9.00 billion had been drawn, CNY6.00 billion utilised and CNY3.00 billion outstanding, and out of the CNY6.00 billion utilised, the sum of CNY5.10 billion had been repaid, while the sum of CNY2.10 billion had not been utilised, leaving the sum of CNY900.00 million yet to be repaid. Furthermore, the next renewal is expected to take place in 2024,” it said.
