Banks’ Assets, Liabilities Hit N37 Trillion

The total assets and liabilities of commercial banks stood at N37.136 trillion as at the end of November 2018.

This, represented a 0.4 per cent decrease below the level at the end of September 2018.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) disclosed this in its fourth quarter economic report for 2018.

According to the report, the funds were sourced, largely, from foreign liabilities, draw down on reserves and acquisition of credit from central bank.

The funds were used, mainly, for payment of matured demand deposits, and settlement of claims on central bank and federal government.

In addition, the report stated that at N19.752 trillion, banks’

ECONOMY

credit to the domestic economy, as at the end of November 2018, showed an increase of two per cent above the level at the end of September 2018.

The development reflected, the nine per cent and 32.8 per cent rise in claims on the federal government and state and local governments, respectively, which more than offset the decline in claims on other private sector in the review period.

It showed that total specified liquid assets of the banks were N12.161 trillion as at the end of November 2018, representing 56.8 per cent of the total current liabilities.

At that level, the liquidity ratio was three per cent points below the level at end-September 2018, but was 33.42 per cent points above the stipulated minimum ratio of 30 per cent.

“The loans-to-deposit ratio, at 65.04 per cent, was 0.13 percentage points and 14.96 percentage points lower than the level at end-September 2018 and the prescribed maximum of 80 per cent, respectively.

“Currency-in-circulation (CIC) at end-December 2018, rose by 20.9 per cent to N2.330 trillion, compared with the growth of 1.4 per cent at end-September 2018. “The development relative to the preceding quarter reflected, mainly, the 19.4 per cent and 7.5 per cent increase in its currency outside banks and demand deposit components, respectively.

“Total deposits at the CBN amounted to N15.704 trillion at end-December 2018, indicating a 6.5 per cent increase above the level at end-September 2018. The increase was attributed to 13 per cent and 9.5 per cent rise in the deposits of the private sector and federal government, respectively.

“Of the total deposits at the CBN, the shares of the federal government, banks and private sector deposits were 49.6 per cent, 30.6 per cent and 19.8 per cent, respectively.

“Reserve money rose by 4.9 per cent to N7,135.73 billion at end-December 2018, compared with the increase of 7.0 per cent

at end-September 2018. The development reflected the increase in total bank reserves,” the report stated.

It revealed that Commercial Paper (CP) outstanding held by banks, amounted to N15.12 billion, in the fourth quarter of 2018, showing a decrease of 35.2 per cent, compared with N23.33 billion recorded at end-September 2018.

The increase was due to the rise in investments in CP by merchant banks during the review quarter. Thus, CP constituted 0.1 per cent of the total value of money market assets outstanding during the review period, compared with 0.2 per cent in the preceding quarter.

Bankers’ Acceptances (BAs) outstanding stood at N12.12 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018, showing an increase of 12.5 per cent, compared with N10.77 billion recorded at the end of the third quarter of 2018. The development was attributed to investments in BAs by commercial banks during the review quarter. Consequently, BAs accounted for 0.1 per cent of the total value of money market assets outstanding at end-December 2018, compared with 0.09 per cent at the end of the preceding quarter.