Apex bank sets aside over $5bn for real sector lending

CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it has set aside over N1 trillion (about $5.07bn) to promote lending to the real sector of the economy with a view to stimulating economic activities in the country.


The Governor of the CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, told journalists at the 21st Seminar for Finance Correspondents and Business Editors in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Monday that the current trend in global central banking has gone beyond the core functions of monetary policy management. Emefiele, who spoke through the Deputy Governor, Corporate Services, Mr. Adebayo Adelabu, therefore justified the massive interventions of the apex bank in financing the real sector of the economy.

 “At the CBN, our approach to real sector development is three-pronged. Our interventions centre around agriculture, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, MSMEs and Infrastructure interventions. The interventions included the N300 billion Real Sector Support Facility RSSF; the N220 billion Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund, MSMEDF; the N213 billion Nigeria Electricity Market Stabilisation Fund; N500 billion Non-Oil Export Stimulation Facility; and the N75 billion Nigeria Incentive Based Risk Sharing for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL),” he said.