CBN disburses N113bn intervention funds

THE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA (CBN) has disbursed a total of N113 billion out of its three intervention funds instituted to stave off economic recession in Nigeria.

According to data from the apex bank, the disbursements of N10.15 billion from the N100 billion health sector intervention fund had been done , as well as N93.2 billion under the N1trillion real sector support fund to boost local manufacturing.

Also, another N10.9 billion out of the N50 billion targeted credit facility for households and SMEs had been disbursed to over 14,331 beneficiaries as part of measures to keep the economy going.

“To preserve these gains and forestall a recession, domestic productivity must be accelerated immediately, particularly as a number of countries contemplate broad export restrictions. Thus, stimulating the manufacturing sector is mission critical to support local consumption needs and reduce output gap to stem price developments,” an official CBN document said.

Meanwhile, credit to the domestic economy between May 2019 and April 2020 rose by N3 trillion as a result of the implementation of the loan to deposit ratio policy of the CBN which mandates banks to set aside 40 percent of their deposit for lending to the real sector.

Non-performing loans (NPLs) ratio stood at 6.6 per cent at end April 2020, compared with 11.0 per cent at end April 2019 , while other prudential ratios remain robust.