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| CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele |
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that interest rates on its various intervention facilities had been extended till March 1, 2023.
This was disclosed by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele at the Bankers’ Committee press briefing, on Thursday, February 10, 2021.
According to Emefiele, the top bank would assess these intervention programs in the future to ensure that they continue to produce the desired results.
He stated that the promising trajectory the CBN has established in economic growth and job creation would be aided by the extension of the Interest rate for the intervention program.
“Although interest rates on our various intervention facilities are expected to revert to nine per cent effective March 1, 2022, we are announcing that the rates will remain at five per cent for another year. This is in view of the promising trajectory we have established in economic growth and job creation. In effect, the concessionary interest rate of five per cent on our intervention facilities will now be extended until March 1, 2023,” Emefiele said.
He also stated that the CBN had provided over three trillion naira in intervention loans to date, in collaboration with Database Management Systems and participating financial institutions, one of the important elements for economic recovery and job creation.
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According to him, the bank has disbursed N948 billion to 4,478,381 smallholder farmers who farmed 5.2 million hectares of farmland across the country through the Anchor Borrowers Programme, resulting in 12.5 million direct and indirect jobs.
”Also, under its Targeted Credit Facility, meant to help households and businesses that suffered significant losses during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bank disbursed N368.79 billion to 778,000 beneficiaries comprising 648,052 households, and about 130,000 SMEs,” he said.
The CBN also disbursed N1.452 trillion to 337 significant projects in agriculture, industry, services, and mining through the Real Sector Support Facility, according to the governor.
In the healthcare sector, Emefiele said 122 key projects totalling N115.36 billion had been funded, with 31 pharmaceutical and 91 hospital projects receiving funding.
According to him, the intervention aided in the purchase of 59 magnetic resonance imaging scanners, 42 computer tomography scanners, and four oncology screening devices.
“For the AGSMEIS programme, which caters to SMEs in agribusiness, a total of N134.63 billion was released to 37,571 SME projects, of which 67 per cent were directly agriculture-related projects, 22.5 per cent in services, while the balance were in fashion, Information Technology and related sub-sectors. Under the Nigeria Electricity Stabilization Facility, a total of N229 billion was disbursed to nine DisCos, to help cover their financial obligations to upstream market participants,” he said.