CBN Boosts Economic Recovery With N3tn Loans, Explains Involvement in InfraCo

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, said on Monday that the bank in conjunction with other financial institutions granted over N3tn in intervention loans to aid economic recovery and job creation.

He  said the current focus of monetary policy was macroeconomic stability – “to build a strong, stable and resilient economy that is self-sustaining and able to weather unanticipated shocks.”

The CBN governor, represented by the Deputy Governor, Corporate Services, Edward Adamu, spoke in a lecture titled, ‘The role of central banks in managing economic downturns’ that he delivered at the 40th anniversary/convocation lecture at the Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti.

He said, “Specifically, under the Anchor Borrowers Programme, we have disbursed N948bn to 4,478,381 smallholder farmers who cultivated 5.2million hectares of farmland across the country, thereby creating 12.5 million direct and indirect jobs.

“Under our Targeted Credit Facility, which was meant to help households and businesses that suffered significant losses during the pandemic, we have disbursed N368.79bn to 778,000 beneficiaries comprising 648,052 households and about 130,000 SMEs.

“We have also disbursed N1.452tn to 337 large real sector projects in agriculture, manufacturing, services, and mining under our Real Sector Support Facility. In healthcare, 122 major healthcare projects have been funded to the tune of N115.36bn.”

According to him,“So far, the CBN, working with the DMBs and participating financial institutions has granted over N3tn in intervention loans that have undoubtedly aided economic recovery and employment generation.”

Meanwhile,Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele, has given further insight into the purpose and operations of the Infrastructure Company Limited (InfraCo) few months after the commencement of operations.

He spoke at the  32nd edition of the Finance Correspondents and Business Editors Seminar in Akure, Ondo State.

He stated: ‘‘To our conviction that the banking sector must pay attention to providing long-term finance for infrastructure development in the country, InfraCorp has been established by the Central Bank of Nigeria in partnership with African Finance Corporation and the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority. ‘‘InfraCorp would enable the use of mostly private capital to support infrastructure investment that will have a multiplier effect on growth across critical sectors.’’

Emefiele said the apex bank  has always been enthusiastic about InfraCo, Infrastructure Company Limited (InfraCo) citing that the strategic projects it would fund would speedily foster economic activities and inclusive growth.