CBN Says Bank Loans To Government Has Increased To N16.32 Trillion

According to figures obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria on ‘Money and credit statistics’, the total net credit by the Nigerian banking sector to the government rose by N2.2 trillion in the first quarter ended March 2022 to N16.32 trillion.

The data revealed that the net credit to the government rose from N14.12 trillion as of the end of January 2022 to N14.72 trillion as of the end of February 2022.

The figure showed that this was an increase from the first quarter figure of 2021 and that the net credit to the government rose from N12.09 trillion, N12.59 trillion, and N12.07 trillion in January, February, and March 2021 respectively.

Speaking on the Monetary Policy Report, the CBN also disclosed that it reviewed the performance of its various interventions to stimulate productivity in manufacturing, industry, agriculture, energy, infrastructure, healthcare, and micro, small and medium enterprises.

The CBN disbursed N29.67 billion between January and February under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme for the procurement of inputs and cultivation of maize, rice, and wheat – three crops that hitherto were significant import concerns.

The disbursements under the programme brought about a total of over 4.52 million smallholder farmers, cultivating 21 commodities across the country, which totaled N975.61 billion.

N19.15 billion was also released by the CBN to finance five large-scale agricultural projects under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme, bringing the total disbursements under the scheme to N735.17 billion for 671 projects in agro-production and agro-processing.

In addition to these, it added that the CBN disbursed N428.31 billion under the N1.0 trillion real sector facility to 37 additional projects in the manufacturing, agriculture, and services sectors.

Under the Real Sector Facility, cumulative disbursements currently stood at N1.75 trillion, disbursed to 368 projects across the country.

The CBN said it had also disbursed N29.51 billion to 31 projects under the 100 for 100 policy on productivity, comprising 16 in manufacturing, 13 in agriculture, and 2 in healthcare