In 12 Months, Banks Attracted N6.69trn New Deposits – CBN

The value of new cash deposits attracted by banks to their vaults in the last one year rose to N6.69 trillion, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said at the weekend.

The apex bank’s Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, Mrs. Aishah Ahmad, who broke the news, said commercial banks received additional N6.69 trillion new deposits from depositors between end- February 2021 and end-February 2022.

The total deposits in banks rose from N32.69 trillion in February 2021 to N39.38 trillion in February 2022, creating N6.69 trillion deposit growth.

In her personal notes to the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members posted on the CBN’s website, Ahmad said the financial system remained resilient and continued to provide significant support for domestic economic recovery.

“Data provided by the CBN workers showed stability in broad financial soundness indicators and sustained improvement in asset quality, alongside growing credit to the private sector,” she said.

According to her, capital adequacy as at February 2022 was at 14.40 per cent. Industry liquidity was also strong at 43.5 per cent over the same period, while the non-performing loans ratio declined further to 4.8 per cent in February 2022, from 4.94 per cent in December 2021.

Ahmad said the state of the industry reflected the case-by-case review of regulatory forbearance, effects of the Global Standing Instruction (GSI) policy, and sound industry risk management practices.

“Notably, total assets rose to N62.01 trillion in February 2022 from N52.32 trillion in February 2021, while total deposits rose to N39.38 trillion from N32.69 trillion over the same period,” she said.

Continuing, she said that banks’ credit to customers also increased by N4.13 trillion between end- February 2021 and end-February 2022 with significant growth in credit to manufacturing, general commerce, and oil & gas sectors.

“The continued growth in credit particularly to output enhancing sectors is expected to further support economic recovery. However, sustained regulatory vigilance is required to mitigate any potential crystallisation of credit risk in the financial system from lingering macroeconomic risks,” she said.