Banking sector’s credit to the private sector rose by N757 billion or 2.57 per cent to N30.189 trillion as of July 2020, compared with the N29.432 trillion it was at the end of June.
Latest money and credit statistics from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), obtained on its website yesterday, also showed that net credit by banks to the government increased to N9.522 trillion as at the end of July, higher than the N8.862 trillion it was the previous month.
This is coming as analysts yesterday offered policy recommendations to assist the federal government in arresting the recent decline in foreign capital importation amidst the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the country.
The surge in lending to the private sector could be attributed to the central bank’s aggressive development finance as well as measures it introduced to cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on households and micro, small and medium scale enterprises, in which the banks are the participating financial institutions.
Also, the CBN report showed that narrow money supply (M1), which includes all physical monies such as coins and currency along with demand deposits and other assets held by the CBN increased to N12. 582 trillion as at July, up from the N12.239 trillion it recorded the previous month.
Quasi money, which is highly liquid assets other than cash that can be quickly converted, stood at N20.764 trillion in the review month, up from N20.212 trillion in June.
Also, currency-in-circulation increased in July to N2.396 trillion, compared with the N2.300 trillion it was the previous month.
Similarly, the data showed that currency outside banks stood at N2.002 trillion as of the review month, up from the N1.868 trillion it was the previous month.
In addition, demand deposits also climbed from N10.371 trillion the previous month to N10.580 trillion in the review month.
Also, while banks’ net foreign assets stood at N7.637 trillion as at the end of July, compared with the N7.577 trillion it was the previous month, the financial institution’s net domestic assets were N29.186 trillion in July, as against the N28.049 trillion it was the previous month.
Banks’ reserves also climbed to N11.026 trillion as at the end of July, from the N10.956 trillion it was at the end of June 2020.
The central bank’s data also showed that its Special Intervention Reserves stood at N317 billion as at July.
Source: THISDAY
