The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that it has injected over N1.3 trillion into the real sector to revive it and make it attractive for the banking industry to lend to it in the efforts to stimulate the growth of the economy.
The Governor of the CBN Godwin Emefiele, speaking at a seminar for finance correspondents and business editors in Ibadan Monday, explained that the apex bank’s desire to stimulate credit injection into the real sector does not attempt to crowd out the financial institutions in the space of credit delivery, but to provide incentives that will stimulate lending at reasonable rates by banks to the real sector.
The CBN boss once again appealed to Nigerians to patronise locally-made products to encourage manufacturers to remain in business.
Emefiele, who was represented by the deputy governor, Corporate Services, Adebayo Adelabu recalled that in his maiden speech as the CBN governor, he had said, “We must, by now, have been tired of hearing people talk about the potential of Nigeria,” adding that now is the time to live that dream.
“I truly believe that working together, we can achieve our goals and give Nigerians the chance to live longer, better, and more fulfilled lives,” he had said then.
According to him, interventions by the bank are centered around agriculture, micro-, small- and medium-enterprises (MSMEs) and infrastructure intervention.
Specifically, the CBN said that the interventions include the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF), the Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme (CACS), the Agricultural Credit Support Scheme (ACSS), the N300 billion Real Sector Support Facility (RSSF), the N220 billion Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF), the Small and Medium Enterprises Refinancing and Restructuring Facility (SMERRF), the N75 billion Nigeria Incentive Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), the N213 billion Nigeria Electricity Market Stabilisation Fund and only recently, the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme launched by President Muhammadu Buhari.
In addition to these, the apex bank said that it is supporting the Nigeria Export Import Bank with N50 billion export refinancing and restructuring facility as well as N500 billion as non-oil export stimulation facility.
-Leadership
