$8.1bn transfer: Court to hear MTN’s case against CBN

MTN has denied claims that it depleted Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves, the South African telecom group’s lawyer, Wole Olanipekun, was quoted by Reuters as saying on Friday, after the central bank accused the company of moving $8.1bn abroad in an ongoing row with the bank, which is battling to shore up its currency. Nigeria is MTN’s biggest market and accounts for a third of its annual core profit. The CBN had said in its counterclaim to the court that MTN contributed to depleting the country’s reserves through the purchase of dollars via unapproved certificates. MTN has denied any wrongdoing. Nigeria faced a severe shortage of dollars in 2016 caused by low oil prices, leading to a sharp devaluation of the naira. The currency crisis triggered a recession, which the country emerged from last year. MTN said in a court filing on Thursday that it paid the naira equivalent to purchase a total of $8.1bn from the central bank in several tranches over a nine-year period and that it did not negatively impair the reserves. Nigeria has burnt reserves to keep the naira stable. Central bank data on Thursday showed that the bank spent $2.2bn in the month to October 16 to defend the currency, while the reserves fell to an eight-month low of $42.8bn. Central bank officials met with MTN and its lenders this week to discuss the dispute. The bank said it was looking for a resolution. The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, was quoted by Reuters on Wednesday as saying that the central bank and MTN could soon agree a deal. A separate hearing between MTN and the Attorney General of the Federation over an alleged $2bn unpaid tax bill has been scheduled for November 8 at the same court in Lagos, Olanipekun told Reuters.]]>