Yemisi Izuora
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is exerting energy to boost the country’s real sector as it takes up more responsibilities to create buffer for the economy.
Essentially the Bank is considering deepening credit delivery to the real sector through a variety of interventions and schemes.
The Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele while addressing the 21st Seminar For Finance Correspondents and Business Editors at WANIQ Event Center, Ibadan, Oyo State, explained that far-reaching objectives of CBN in the implementation of schemes and programmes for real sector development focuses on the inherent potential in the sector vis a vis its conviction that the sector has sufficient employment capabilities.
Emefiele represented by Adebayo Adekola Adelabu the Deputy Governor, Corporate Services, also noted the conviction of the apex bank on the sectors high growth potentials, with the capability to contribute significantly in accretion to foreign reserves, as well as expansion of the industrial base and diversifying the growth potentials of the natural economy.
He said the CBN approach to real sector development is three prolonged.
The Governor stated that the banks interventions would center around Agriculture, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and Infrastructure Intervention.
“Interventions include the Agricultural Credit Scheme Fund (ACGSF), the Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme (CACS), the Agricultural Credit Support Scheme (ACSS), the N300billion Real Sector Support Facility (RSSF), the N200billion Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund (MSERRF), the Small and Medium Refinancing and Restructuring Facility (SMERRF), the N75billion Nigerian Incentive Based Risek Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) and the N215billion Nigeria Electricity Market Stabilization Fund” Emefiele added.
Speaking further he stressed that the reduction in the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) of Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) from 25 percent to 20 percent has freed up resources that the bank can leverage on to finance projects under the real sector support fund.
According to him, CBN’s desire to Stimulate Credit Injection to the real sector does not attempt to ‘Crowed Out’ the financial institutions in the space of Credit Delivery but to provide incentives that will stimulate lending at reasonable rates by banks to the real sector.
This should increase the level of credit to the real sector, assist the takeoff of new projects, help revamp the moribund projects and also enhance the productivity of existing ones.
This concerted effort will result into job creation , increase accretion to Foreign Reserve through non oil exports, increased contributionto GDP by the real sector and ultimately stimulate economic growth and development through improved living standards for the teeming populations of Nigeria.
Also Emefiele said the CBN is also committed to stimulating accretion of foreign exchange through non oil export, the bank is supporting Nigerian Export-Import Bank, (NEXIM) with N50billion Export Refinancing and Restructuring Facility and also N500billion as non oil Export Stimulation Facility (ESF).
He explained that the new CBN policy excluding 41 items from being procured with foreign exchange from the Nigerian Foreign Exchange as well as the most recent move to stop the sale of foreign exchange to Bureaux de Change (BDC) in Nigeria are new bold policy measures introduced to help conserve foreign reserves as well as facilitate the resuscitation of domestic industries and improve employment generation in the country.