News – Supreme

CBN reforms trigger fears of African banks stability S&P

suprememfbank — Mon, 27 May 2019 09:21:22 +0000

The recent intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria in five ”troubled” banks, which led to the sack of their chief executive officers and revealed significant liquidity crisis, has triggered fears about the stability of African banks, according to a credit rating agency, Standard and Poor‘s. French news agency, AFP, on Thursday, quoted S&P as saying that sub-Saharan Africa faced further obstacles such as increased regulation of financial markets in reaction to the credit crunch and fears about the stability of African banks following the crisis in Nigeria. This, according to experts, is because the Nigerian banks, post-consolidation, had been seen as drivers of financial system growth in sub-Saharan Africa.

The CBN had on August 14 injected N420bn into Intercontinental Bank Plc, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Afribank Plc, Oceanic Bank Plc and Finbank Plc on account of liquidity stress that had kept the banks ‘locked’ in the CBN Expanded Discount Window for months. The bank executives had been accused of insider abuses and abysmal credit/risk management, which reportedly threatened the entire banking system. According to S&P, the worldwide economic crisis has stifled Africa‘s growth boom and the region faces further threats even as a recovery gets underway in other parts of the world.

This, experts said, would make the economy feel the impact of the current crisis in the Nigerian banking sector more. A former minister, who asked not to be named, said, ”If we had undertaken these reforms earlier, the economy would have been better able to bear the consequences. If we had faced the reality about our banks at the outset of the global financial crisis, we would have gone steps ahead of this stage. ”We are now doing what other countries had done a long time ago, but that does not mean that we should not act.”

Investigations by our correspondent revealed that lending activities are almost nil now that the banks are struggling to recover their debts to reduce their provision for loan losses. Standard and Poor‘s said, ”Falling commodity prices, remittances, foreign direct investment, tourism and the freezing of global capital markets all combined to stifle the recent African boom.” It said rich economies could also cut aid budgets because of rising debt and vital remittances from African immigrants in wealthier countries in Europe and North America, which could be reduced as unemployment there continues to rise.

CBN leaves interest rate at 14%, Emefiele gives reasons

suprememfbank — Sat, 25 May 2019 09:18:31 +0000

The CBN has retained the rate it lends to commercial banks at 14 per cent since 2016 – According to the CBN governor, the Monetary Policy Committee resolved to retain the cash reserve ratio (CRR) at 22.5 per cent and liquidity ratio at 30 per cent – Emefiele said Nigeria’s foreign reserve has grown from $42.54 billion as at December 2018 to $43.28 billion as at January 21 The Central Bank of Nigeria has left its lending rate for banks the same in what seems to be an effort to stabilise the financial system and stop growing inflation. Premium Times reports that Godwin Emefiele who is the governor of the CBN revealed this on Tuesday, January 22. He said the Monetary Policy Committee had a meeting in Abuja where it was resolved that monetary policy rate (MPR) will be retained at 14 per cent. Since June 2016 when it was at 12 per cent, the CBN has retained the rate it lends to commercial banks at 14 per cent. This rate has been maintained for 30 consecutive months or 15 meetings of the MPC. Emefiele also said the committee resolved to “retain the cash reserve ratio (CRR) at 22.5 per cent and liquidity ratio at 30 per cent, with an asymmetric corridor of +200/-500 basis points around the MPR.” The CRR is the funds kept with the CBN as a minimum deposit a commercial bank must hold as reserves which is a monetary policy tool used to influence borrowing and interest rates by changing the amount of money at the banks’ disposal for loans purposes. The CBN governor noted that the country’s debt was approaching the pre-2015 levels and warned government against the risk of rising debt level. He acknowledged that Nigeria’s foreign reserve has grown from $42.54 billion as at December 2018 to $43.28 billion as at January 21. Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has predicted that inflation rate in the country is expected to rise for the rest of 2018 till mid-2019 due to the forthcoming elections. Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the CBN, made the disclosure when giving a speech at a bankers’ dinner in Lagos, The Sun reports. A letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda He, however, stated that despite this gloomy picture, the short-term outlook of the Nigerian economy remains good.

Nigeria seeks to capture over 50 million unbanked population

suprememfbank — Fri, 24 May 2019 09:56:07 +0000

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued licenses to five new banks, according to three banking sources familiar with the matter, who spoke to us. Sources say the CBN is being driven by the need to attract new investments into the sector and serve the country’s over 50 million unbanked and under-banked people, even as current banks have struggled to grow loan books since an economic slump in 2016 caused bad loans to surge. The sources, who say the banks plan to begin operations before August, could only give specific details on two of them.

One of the new banks, “Globus” is said to be spearheaded by Elias Igbinakenzua, a former Executive Director at a Tier One bank. “The Bank (Globus), whose head office is on Sanusi Fafunwa, Victoria Island, may open by May 2nd,” one of the sources said. The second bank would go by the name “Titan” and is said to have secured the services of a former Heritage bank executive director. Another owner of one of the new banks is said to be Indian – the former owner of Chi Limited who recently sold a majority stake to Coca Cola – and the initial strategy would be to target large Indian and Lebanese clients with investments in Nigeria especially in the Manufacturing and other sectors, sources said.

The other banks remain largely anonymous but would be a mix of micro-finance, Merchant and/or deposit money banks, according to the sources. CBN spokesperson, Isaac Okarafor, did not respond to calls seeking comment. Three bank CEOs declined to comment, as the CBN is yet to go public on the matter. We gathered from sources that most of the capital needed to set up the banks were sourced locally in Nigeria. The minimum capital requirement for a Regional bank is N10 billion, while for National banks its N25 billion and international Banks N50 billion, according to the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA).

The capital requirement of microfinance banks, which was amended by the CBN in 2018, is as follows: For a Unit Microfinance bank, the requirement is N200 million, while its N1 billion and N5 billion for a State and National Microfinance bank respectively. For a merchant bank, the minimum paid-up share capital is currently N15 billion. Attempting to place a finger on the motivation for licensing five new banks almost out of the blue, one of the sources said. Another said “Nigeria is under-banked and investors are responding, if the CBN wants to grow credit, by N1 trillion, none of the old banks can take it. Banks available are already at capacity, in one way or another.”

The CBN has been somewhat desperate for banks to increase lending to critical sectors but an economy fraught with risks has tamed lending appetite. Nigerian banks were unable to grow their loan books in the past year, a signal that the macroeconomic environment remains weak and non-supportive for growth. The 12 largest lenders quoted on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) saw combined loans and advances dip by 6.37 percent to N12.34 trillion in December 2018, from N13.18 trillion a year earlier. This compares with a 25.14 percent increase between the 2013 and 2014 financial year.

The CBN is worried about the trend, Governor Godwin Emefiele indicated in the aftermath of the monetary policy committee last March. To encourage lending to the real sector, the CBN promised to allow banks draw down from their regulatory cash buffers sitting with the apex bank, if the banks gave loans to manufacturers and players in the agriculture sector at single-digit interest rates. The response has been largely underwhelming, with banks preferring instead to stash cash in double-digit yielding government debt where they take considerably less risk.Even the CBN’s surprise interest rate cut to 13.5 percent after keeping it at 14 percent for over two years, was not able to move the needle on lending.

The banks argue that to increase lending the CBN should instead reduce the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) to free up idle funds. The effective CRR in the sector is as high as 40 percent. Licensing five new banks can pass for the latest strategy by the CBN to boost bank lending, according to a source. “However, if the problems that hinder the current banks from growing their loan books persist, then even the new ones will struggle,” the third source said. Total credit to the private sector grew by a meagre 2.2 percent to N24.16 trillion, according to the CBN’s Depository Corporation survey report for February 2019, another indication of weak credit flow in the economy.

Johnson Chukwu, managing director and CEO of advisory firm, Cowry Asset Management Ltd, said the expansion in credit has been going to the public sector as yields remain attractive at between 13 and 14 percent. “The economic recovery rate has been slow and financial institutions are cautious of booking new Non Performing Loans (NPLs),” said Chukwu. Sources tell us that the CBN feels that some of the current banks may be becoming a little bit removed from the needs of the average customer. “The banking public has very few options. The bigger the bank the more distant the relationship. There is at worst an oligopoly and at best a duopoly,” the first source said.

We learnt that the licensing is a done deal according to the processes involved which may take up to 2 years. This includes sending the name of directors to the Department of State Security (DSS), Assistant General Manager’s and above being vetted by CBN, offices and branches inspection, staff recruitment, printing of checks and software deployment. The emergence of the new banks is good for staff, good for signalling and will increase competition in the sector our sources said. “When you realize CBN will not allow any bank to fail, you realize there is nothing to fear. You can go ahead and request a license,” the second source said.

CBN to withdraw dirty notes from circulation

suprememfbank — Fri, 24 May 2019 09:48:18 +0000

The Central Bank of Nigeria said it has plans to withdraw dirty notes from circulation – The apex bank noted that a large number of the N7.9 trillion pieces of naira notes in circulation were bad – CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, is expected to launch a policy to address this problem The Central Bank of Nigeria has recognised the fact that a large portion of the N7.9 trillion pieces of naira notes in circulation are dirty, mutilated, unfit for Automated Teller Machines and will be withdrawn. The Nation reports that the apex bank noted this in a statement by its deputy governor of operations, Folashodun Shonubi, and director of currency operations department, Pricilla Eleje. The officials said the bank has the obligation of providing clean notes to the people. CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele is due in Lagos tomorrow to launch “The clean note policy and banknote fitness guidelines” as the apex bank said this was a step to address this issue. The clean note policy provides a uniform standard for the circulation of only clean and fit banknotes; while the banknote fitness guidelines provide the industry with clear and acceptable criteria for determining the quality of notes in circulation. “The CBN cannot achieve these objectives without the collaboration of deposit money banks(DMBs), merchant banks, microfinance banks, government agencies, Cash-in- Transit ( CIT), Cash Processing Companies (CPCs), Market Associations, merchants/retailers, chambers of commerce and industry, security agencies, currency Management equipment manufacturers , bank customers and the general public. “In view of technological advances, the CBN, like other central banks has introduced various forms of electronic payment systems for effective and efficient settlement of transactions and to reduce the volume of cash usage with its attendant cost implications. “Despite the prevalence of other forms of payment, cash remains ‘king’ in our day to day economic transactions. As such, people still prefer to use cash in making payments especially where there are no digital payment platforms,” the statement read. According to CBN, the volume of currency in circulation as at the end of 2012 rose significantly by 10.34 per cent to 7,914.70 billion pieces, as at half year of 2018. It added that demand for cash continues to grow despite technological advances. It added that from time to time, the bank introduces a number of currency management initiatives to ensure that the production, issuance of new notes, processing by third service providers as well as recirculation by the deposit money banks (DMBs) conform to the predetermined standards. To ensure that the banknotes in circulation are clean and of high quality, the bank hereby issues the clean note policy. The clean note policy enunciated therefore by the bank, entails a spectrum of diverse currency management activities geared towards the efficient circulation of premium quality banknotes and withdrawal of unfit/soiled banknotes to guarantee public confidence and usage of the naira banknotes as a medium of exchange,” CBN stated. The House of Representatives had earlier urged the CBN to immediately commence the withdrawal of mutilated naira notes from all banks, and replace them with new notes, especially the N100 denominations which bear the face of the late Obafemi Awolowo. Hon Adekoya Adesegun Abdel-Majid, the member representing Ijebu-North/Ijebu-East/Ogun Waterside of Ogun state, pointed out that the naira now appears in inglorious forms and with odours that can be dangerous to human health. He further explained that the notes are usually dirty, mutilated, badly torn, terribly squeezed, soiled and cello taped.

Nigeria’s Microfinance Bank Disburse N482.896 Billion Loans in 2018

suprememfbank — Thu, 23 May 2019 09:42:49 +0000

CBNMicrofinance Bank Loans to MSMEs Hits N482.896 billion – Emefiele

The total loans granted by Micro Finance Banks (MFBs) to their customers stood at N482.896 billion as at December, 2018, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has stated

Emeflele, who made the disclosure during his keynote address at the 27th Seminar for Finance Correspondents and Business Editors held in Gombe, as well held that the MFBs were helping to drive financial inclusion among the financially excluded in the nation’s economy. The CBN Governor, represented by Edward Lametek Adamu, the Deputy Governor, Corporate Services Directorate, said financial inclusion was huge among small holder peasant farmers, artisans and other small business operators, creating wealth and employment along the path. According to him, the CBN “equally observed that small businesses have been more successful in securing credit from the microfinance institutions rather than conventional Deposit Money Banks (DMBs).

He, however, said: “As at December, 2018, aggregate loans granted by MFBs was N482.896 billion. Of this amount, loan sizes below N1.4 million accounted for 72 per cent”

Central Bank of Nigeria Auditing Banks

suprememfbank — Wed, 22 May 2019 09:23:17 +0000

The CBN has noted with concern stories in some segments oF the press purporting to report decisions taken as a result of the ongoing audit of Nigerian banks.

The Central Bank confirms that examiners have concluded their work on 11 out of the 14 banks not included n he first audit exercise. They have also made significant progress on the remaining three banks and these are Citibank, Stanbic IBTC and Standard Chartered.

The Central Bank confirms that the complete reports are due to be presented and deliberated upon by the Committee of Governors and the EXCO of NDIC in the next two weeks and only after the process is completed will final decisions be taken.

3 Things to Know Before Taking Out a Loan

suprememfbank — Wed, 22 May 2019 09:18:55 +0000

Taking out a loan is a big step financially and should not be taken lightly. Yes, we understand there are those emergency situations that require you to borrow money. However, there are some things you want to keep in mind to determine if this is the best option for you. We made this brief list of 3 things you want to keep in mind before making a decision as big as taking out a loan.

Consider Your Options

Why do you need this money? Is there a better option out there for you? Really consider all possible solutions before taking out a loan. Depending on how you manage borrowed money, it can either help you or hurt you. The most substantial loan you’ll take out during your lifetime is a home mortgage. If you can make a good down payment on a home that you can afford, then, by all means, go for it. However, if you’re taking out a personal loan to cover bills or emergencies, you need to ask yourself if there’s another possible solution. Ways around this include making a budget and sticking to it as well as having money saved for these emergency situations.

How Much Can You Actually Afford?

This is a tricky question because while we may be able to make those monthly payments on our home or vehicle, it does not mean that we can afford these assets. You want to take into consideration the monthly payment as well as the total amount you’ll end up paying back. A small monthly payment may seem appealing. However, aside from the APR, you want to consider the total cost you’re going to pay for this loan. This is the amount that you plan on borrowing plus the interest you’ll be paying over the life of the loan. Calculate this information to determine if you can really afford the loan you’re applying for.

What Are Your Loan Options?

So, you’ve decided a loan is for you, now you just need to find a provider. Depending on the type of loan that you need, you’ll need to speak to a specific provider. The quickest way to obtain a loan is to go to a bank or financial institution that you already have a relationship with. While this may be the quickest way, you have other options to really save money, especially if you hold stocks. There are reputable providers like https://easystockloans.com that offer stock loans, so you don’t have to put up your house or car as collateral—your collateral is the loan itself. When considering these types of loans, you want to review all your options and go with a provider that offers the most flexible terms.