The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says 12 banks have been fined N499 billion for failing to give out 60% of their deposits as loans.
The cash reserve of the banks held by the CBN has been debited.
The CRR is a portion of the banks’ deposits kept with the CBN for regulatory reasons.
In July, the CBN had increased the loan to deposit ratio to 60% saying: “Failure to meet the above minimum LDR by the specified date shall result in a levy of additional Cash Reserve Requirement equal to 50% of the lending shortfall of the target LDR”.
The affected banks are:
Citibank – N100,743,055,321
First Bank of Nigeria – N74,668,880,480
FBNQuest Merchant Bank – N2,697,456,144
First City Monument Bank (FCMB) – N14,371,064,742
Guaranty Trust Bank – N25,147,933, 628
Jaiz Bank – N7,525,165,552
Keystone Bank – N4,162,938, 879
Rand Merchant Bank – N2,823,177,399
Standard Chartered Bank – N30,027,137,984
SunTrust Bank – N1,703,205,427
United Bank for Africa – N99,676,181,916
Zenith Bank – N135,629,337,625
On Tuesday, the CBN again raised the LDR to 65% and set a December deadline for banks.
The CBN said the newly revised LDR is informed by the noticeable growth in the level of the industry gross credit.
According to data provided by the CBN, the credit provided to businesses increased by N829.40 billion between the end of May and September 26.
The LDR policy is expected to encourage lending to small businesses and reduce banks’ appetite for investing in government securities like treasury bills.
