The Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), has fumed against the imposition of the levy on financial institutions in the country by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
BizWatch Nigeria understands that CBN imposed a 0.5% levy on commercial banks to fund the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).
Lamenting that the AMCON levy has been harmful to the investments of commercial banks in Nigeria, the shareholders revealed that the corporation, between 2020, and the first quarter of 2022, had now received N453.47 billion.
According to the investors, AMCON received N146.9 billion in 2020, N180.67 billion in 2021, and N125.9 billion in the first quarter of 2022 as levies from commercial banks, noting that these were deductions from the imposition of 0.5% charges on banks’ total assets on and off-balance sheet imposed on financial institutions.
Recall that AMCON was established in 2010 by CBN to take over non-performing loans in the banking sector.
However, claiming that the corporation had yet to serve its full potential, the shareholders said AMCON had only recovered a paltry N1.4 trillion since its inception.
“The available data showed that non-performing loans across the financial sector have again increased by more than 150 percent.
“At the commencement of its operations, the agency purchased 12,743 non-performing loans or eligible bank assets (EBAS) valued at N3.8 trillion from 22 eligible financial institutions (EFIS) for N1.8 trillion.
“Equally, the corporation earned about N327.6 billion from 0.5% charges on banks’ total assets on and off-balance sheet items imposed on nine banks between 2020 and 2021.
“As part of the quick intervention in the banking sector’s bad debts by CBN through AMCON, the debt recovery agency equally received N125.9 billion from 12 commercial banks listed on the Nigerian Exchange as part of the Sector’s resolution funds in the first quarter of 2022.
“In the same period, AMCON bank charges increased by 29.5% from N97.18 billion paid in the corresponding period of 2021 to N125.9 billion in the first quarter of 2022,” the Coordinator Emeritus of the association, Sunny Nwosu, was quoted as saying.
.){kind=link}