By Amaka Ifeakandu
Lagos
Banks credit to the private sector of the economy increased to N18.719 trillion at end-December 2015. It represents a surge of 3.29 per cent compared with the annualized growth rate of 8.54per cent recorded at the end of the first half of 2015. The Financial Stability report released by the Central Bank of Nigeria on its website yesterday said, the growth in private sector credit reflected, largely, the 3.12 per cent rise in claims on the core private sector.
The report also said that the growth in credit to the private sector, especially the core private sector, reflected the impact of various policies of the Bank that enhanced the lending capacity of banks and encouraged increased lending to the private sector vis-à-vis the government sector.
The apex bank report said that the contribution of claims on the private sector to the growth rate of total monetary assets stood at 3.15 percentage points, compared with 4.09 percentage points at the end of the preceding half year. On the aggregate credit to the economy, the report said ” relative to end-December 2014, net domestic credit (NDC) grew by 12.13 per cent to N21. 612 trillion at end-December 2015,compared with N21. 409 trillion reported at the end of the first half of 2015. The growth in NDC showed a significant increase in net claims on the Federal Government and the modest growth in private sector credit.”