The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that its various interventions in various sectors are responsible for the revival of the nation’s economy. CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele disclosed this at the weekend at the ‘CBN Day’ in Enugu during the ongoing Enugu International Trade Fair in Enugu.
Emefiele, who was represented at the fair by the director, corporate communications department, CBN, Mr. Osita Nwanisobi, noted that the apex bank in its continuous efforts to revive the economy and create access to credit, had extended the interest rate of 5% across all its intervention loans to March 2023.
He added that the bank’s 100 for 100 Policy on Production and Productivity (PPP) is gradually reversing the nation’s over-reliance on imports.
According to him, the broad objective of the 100 for 100 Policy on Production and Productivity (PPP) is to boost production and productivity, necessary to transform and jumpstart the productive base of the Nigerian economy.
“It is also expected that the initiative will reverse the nation’s over-reliance on imports by creating an ecosystem that targets and supports the right companies and projects with potential to immediately transform Nigeria’s productive base every 100 days”, the governor said.
He also disclosed that the bank had disbursed N948 billion to 4,478, 381 smallholder farmers under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) across the country
ABP is an agricultural loan scheme launched in 2015 by the Federal Government through the CBN to boost agricultural yields, halt large volumes of food importation and address negative trade balance.
The governor said the smallholder farmers who benefited from the scheme cultivated 5.2 million hectares of farmland across the country, thereby, creating over 12.5 million direct and indirect jobs.
Under the CBN targeted Credit Facility designed to cushion the effect of the Coronavirus pandemic, Emefiele said that the apex bank had disbursed N368.79 billion to 778, 000 beneficiaries.
He explained that the beneficiaries comprised 648, 052 households and about 130, 000 Small and Medium Enterprises.
“Specifically, the bank disbursed N1.452 trillion to 337 large real sector projects in agriculture, manufacturing, services and mining under Real Sector Support Facility (RSSF),” he said.
He said the CBN did it through its developmental role as enshrined in the CBN Act 2007 (as amended) led policy and financing support to about 40 interventions, adding that the interventions were executed through the bank’s development finance initiatives.
He mentioned some of the initiatives to include the RSSF, the Agri-business/Small and Medium Enterprises Investment Scheme and the Non-oil Export Stimulation Facility among others.
Earlier, the President, Enugu Chamber of Commerce Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA), Mr. Jasper Nduagwuike, applauded the CBN for its various intervention efforts.
“The various interventions in the various sectors of the economy have more than proved their commitment to seeing to the welfare and wellbeing of the Nigerian economy”, Nduagwuike said, urging the CBN to redouble its efforts in bank supervision.
“There must be a way the CBN will control the activities of fraudsters in the financial circle.
“Ponzi schemes seem to have a way of dodging the organisation until it has wrecked huge financial damage to individuals and the economy,” he said.
Regards,
