Audio By Carbonatix
Nigeria unveiled another set of measures aimed at forcing lenders to extend more credit in an effort to revive economic growth, this time cutting the amount of money companies can keep in interest-bearing accounts at the central bank.
Banks will no longer receive interest payments on deposits exceeding 2 billion naira ($5.5 million), the Central Bank of Nigeria said in a statement posted on its website on Wednesday night. That compares with a previous limit set in 2014 of 7.5 billion naira through the central bank’s standing deposit facility.
The move comes less than a week after the Abuja-based central bank ordered lenders to use at least 60% of their deposits for loans by the end of September, or have their cash-reserve requirements increased, meaning they’ll be forced to leave more of their cash with the central bank.
“The rule is geared at making banks lend,” Kunle Ezun, an analyst at Ecobank Transnational Inc in Lagos, said by phone. “It is to encourage banks to move funds to areas the central bank wants to drive growth.”
Banks are reluctant to lend with the economy struggling to recover from a 2016 contraction, double-digit inflation and the lure of buying government bonds that pay average yields of 14.2%.
Latest Stories
-
Pupils sent home as teachers’ strike disrupts learning in 80 Tarkwa schools
7 minutes -
There are no divisions in NDC – Godwin Ako Gunn
9 minutes -
What Is Wrong with Us: Why we keep chasing payslips while ignoring the payrolls that create them
11 minutes -
Patoranking teams up with Ruger for new afro-dancehall single ‘Shake That’
19 minutes -
Africa’s climate negotiators put health at the centre of climate action ahead of Bonn talks
45 minutes -
Mahama’s involvement in Council of Elders’ directive signals concern over NDC divisions – Haruna Mohammed
46 minutes -
Barekesse youth threaten dump site blockade over alleged denial of 24-hour market
51 minutes -
GES releases 2026/2027 academic calendar for Senior High Schools
56 minutes -
Iran warns Israeli attacks in Lebanon threaten ceasefire with US
56 minutes -
GhIE calls for radical shift in Ghana’s flood management strategy as urban flooding worsens
58 minutes -
Judge me by results, not my personal qualities – Carlos Queiroz
1 hour -
No African country can navigate geopolitical and economic complexities in isolation – Mahama
1 hour -
BoG’s consultative approach helping shape economic recovery – Governor
1 hour -
‘Let’s be positive about the squad’ – Jordan Ayew urges patience with Black Stars
1 hour -
‘We want to play great football’- Carlos Queiroz ahead of Wales test
1 hour