Nigeria: CBN disbursed N370 billion under Targeted Credit Facility to households, SMEs

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, has said that the bank has disbursed N370 billion under its Targeted Credit Facility.

He disclosed this during the 2021 annual Bankers’ Committee retreat which was held in Lagos with the theme, ‘Building resilience for economic growth.’

According to the CBN governor, the initiatives introduced by the CBN helped to spur and support the recovery of the economy and realign general macroeconomic conditions.

The CBN Governor said, “Other CBN policy measures that we took to help the economy recover include creation of a N400 billion Targeted Credit Facility for households and small and medium enterprises. Of this, nearly N370 billion has been released to over 800,000 beneficiaries.”

Emefiele stated that N1 trillion facility established for local manufacture and production in vital areas is funding 53 manufacturing, 21 agriculture-related, and 13 service projects.

A N200 billion healthcare intervention fund has been established, according to Emefiele, for pharmaceutical businesses and healthcare practitioners to expand and strengthen the country’s healthcare institutions.

He said the CBN took exceptional measures to control the effects of the pandemic on the economy and promoted greater productivity in critical sectors, given its responsibility to promote a healthy monetary and financial system and collaborate with the fiscal authorities.

According to him, the CBN worked with the fiscal authorities to develop significant policy support measures under the Economic Sustainability Plan in order to restore stability and stimulate growth.

He stated that in order to control the downturn and accelerate Nigeria’s economic recovery, the monetary and fiscal authorities implemented a series of policy measures that helped the country’s growth rebound in the fourth quarter of 2020.

He noted that owing to the policy actions, the country exited recession in the fourth quarter of 2020 with a growth rate of 0.11 per cent, which improved to 0.51 per cent in Q1 2021.

He said, “On the back of this recovery, the CBN remains focused on strengthening the fundamentals of the Nigerian economy, by using mostly innovative and sometimes extraordinary measures to diversify the economy, boost domestic productivity, and reduce our import dependence.

“Though the economy is recovering, growth remains fragile, below potential.”