The Central Bank of Nigeria has debited close to N2 trillion from several banks in the last quarter in line with its Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) compliance requirement, and this has left many banks cash-strapped and unable to pursue various profitable ventures.
Blueprint gathered that many banks in the country, including the likes of First Bank, now have billions of their customers’ debits sterilised for the sake of CRR compliance.
The cash reserve requirement is the minimum amount banks are expected to leave retained with the Central Bank of Nigeria from customer deposits. In January, the CRR was increased by five per cent to 27.5 per cent by the CBN Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) who explained that the decision was intended to address monetary-induced inflation whilst retaining the benefits from the CBN’s LDR policy.
Recall that in January 2020, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) raised the Cash Reserve Ratio by five per cent to 27.5 per cent.
The move shocked bankers who had expected the CBN to taper down on its tight monetary policies considering the economic headwinds. This was very well before the COVID-19 virus exploded worldwide.
In April, the apex bank debited 29 banks the sum of N1, 469,179,201,591.39 trillion with Zenith Bank accounting for N355.9 billion, UBA: N204.7 billion; First Bank: N206.1 billion and Stanbic IBTC: N143.9 billion of the total fine.
The CBN followed this up in June again, debiting 26 banks to the tune of N459.7bn for failure to meet their CRR obligations.
Among the banks that were most affected are United Bank for Africa Plc (N82.3 billion), First Bank of Nigeria Ltd (N59.3), Zenith Bank Plc (N50 billion), First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited (N45 billion), and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (N40 billion).
In its latest sanction, 14 banks were debited to the tune of N118bn, the lowest in three months. Sadly, this move, in addition to similar policies by the CBN, has left many banks cash-strapped and unable to pursue various profitable ventures.
According to data sourced from the CBN’s official website, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank got the highest debits of N15bn apiece, while Union Bank of Nigeria Plc was debited N12.5bn, and FBN was debited N12.4bn.
Fidelity Bank Plc, Citibank, FCMB were debited NN11bn, N10.2bn, N10bn respectively. Meanwhile, among the five biggest banks, Access Bank got the least sanction with a debit of N3bn in July followed by Zenith Bank Plc’s N7bn.
