The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has revealed that Nigeria’s total banks’ assets grew by over N12 trillion between May 2021 and June this year. The apex bank said the sector has remained resilient in spite of the economic upheavals.
Aisha Ahmad, CBN Deputy Governor Financial System Stability Directorate, disclosed this at the end of the Monetary Policy Committee, MPC meeting in July.
According to her, the banking sector’s total assets grew by 22.07 percent from N53.64 trillion in May 2021, to N65.48 trillion as of June this year.
Ahmad stated that the growth was supported by the total customers deposits which grew by over N42 trillion.
Breaking down the figures, she said the industry’s assets “continued their year-on-year upward trajectory with total assets rising to N65.48 trillion in June 2022 from N53.64 trillion in June 2021, while total deposits rose to N42.03 trillion from N33.85 trillion over the same period.”
“Gross credit has maintained an upward trajectory since 2019, rising by N5.02 trillion between June 2021 and June 2022 with significant growth in credit to manufacturing, general commerce and oil and gas sectors. This notable increase was achieved amidst continued decline in non-performing loans ratio from 5.3 per cent in April 2022 to 5.0 per cent in June 2022. “
She said the CBN must act to stem the tide of rising inflation and intervene in critical areas of the economy that can support growth, apart from tightening monetary policy.
Ahmad said “The monetary authority must act to better anchor elevated inflation expectations of economic agents following months of rising inflation and recent multiple shocks. Interventions and continued funding of the real sector give room for tightening the monetary policy stance to better anchor inflation expectations, mitigate demand driven inflation and ultimately preserve output gains.
“More importantly, the evolution of consumer prices in recent months and the uncertain short-term outlook present credible grounds to raise the policy rate.”
