The total amount released under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS) from inception in 2009 to date, stood at N610.43 billion in respect of 593 projects as at the end of October 2019.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) disclosed this in its economic report for October 2019.
In all, 52 projects have repaid the sum of N4.49 billion under the scheme.
Of the 52 projects, 49 were steady repayments and three projects were full repayments.
According to the report, the repayment of N4.49 billion brought the cumulative repayment under CACS from inception in 2009 to N376.26 billion.
Analysis of the number of projects financed under CACS by value chain indicated that of the 593 CACS-sponsored projects, production activities accounted for 61.4 per cent and dominated the activities funded, while processing accounted for 27.8 per cent.
These were followed by storage, input supplies and marketing, which accounted for 4.7 per cent, 3.4 per cent and 2.7 per cent, respectively.
However, the report showed that total assets and liabilities of commercial banks in the country amounted to N39.612 trillion at end-September 2019, showing 0.1 per cent increase, compared with the level at the end of the preceding month.
Funds were sourced, mainly, from sale of foreign assets, credit from the Bank and the realisation of claims on the federal government.
The funds were used, mainly, to increase claims on the private sector, reduce unclassified liabilities and shore up capital.
“Commercial banks’ credit to the domestic economy rose by 1.4 per cent to N22,103.9 billion at end-September 2019, compared with the level at the end of the preceding month.
“The development was attributed to the rise in its claims on the private sector component. Total specified liquid assets of banks stood at N13,774.8 billion at end September 2019, representing 59.0 per cent of their total current liabilities.
“At that level, the liquidity ratio was 0.4 percentage point lower than the level at the end of the preceding month, and was 29 percentage points above the the stipulated minimum liquidity ratio of 30 per cent.
“The loan-to-deposit ratio, at 62.1 per cent, was 1.1 percentage point above the level at the end of the preceding month and was lower than the maximum ratio of 80 per cent by 17.9 percentage points,” the report stated.
Furthermore, it showed that Commercial paper (CP) outstanding held by commercial banks stood at N40.56 billion at the end of the review month, showing an increase of 9.9 per cent, compared with N36.91 billion recorded in the month of September 2019. Thus, CP constituted 0.32 per cent of the total value of money market assets outstanding in the review period, compared with 0.30 per cent in the preceding month.
Also, at the end of October 2019, Bankers’ Acceptance (BAs) stood at N1.59 billion, representing an increase of 9.7 per cent, relative to the level at the end of the preceding month.
Consequently, BAs accounted for 0.01 per cent of the total value of money market assets outstanding at the end of the review period, same as the level at the end of the preceding month.
“Certificate of Deposits (CDs) rose by 0.05 per cent to N59.69 billion in the review period, compared with N59.66 billion in the preceding month. At that level, CDs constituted 0.48 per cent of total money market assets outstanding in October 2019,” it added.
Source: THISDAY
