… 8 banks have met recapitalisation requirement
By Onu Okorie
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso says that the Monetary Policy Committee has retained the nation’s benchmark interest rate at 27.50 percent for the second time running.
Cardoso who made this known while addressing journalists at the end of the July edition of the meeting yesterday explained that members of the committee unanimously decided to hold all policy rates around the Monetary Policy Rate MPR.
He added that the MPC maintained the current monetary policy stance and hold all policy parameters constant around the MPR in order to maintain the momentum of disinflation.
Meanwhile, the CBN Governor disclosed that eight Nigerian banks have fully met the recapitalisation requirement of the Central Bank while others were working to meet the deadline.
The apex bank boss however did not give details as to the specific banks that have met the requirements.
By that, the MPC retained the asymmetric corridor around the MPR at +500/-100 basis points, retains the Cash Reserve Ratio of Deposit Money Banks at 50 percent and Merchant Banks at 16 percent, and retains the Liquidity Ratio at 30 percent. The MPC also acknowledged the decline in headline inflation for the third consecutive time. The committee urged the CBN to maintain a close supervision of the Nigerian banks to maintain the stability of the banking system.
With about eight months to the March 31, 2026 deadline given to banks to meet up with the new capital base, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeira (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso has revealed that eight banks have met the recapitalisation while others are in the process of meeting the benchmark. The apex bank had given a 24-month timeline, running from April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2026 for banks with international licences to maintain at least N500 billion, national banks to have minimum of N200 billion, and regional banks to maintain N50 billion as paid up capital. Cardoso, however, did not disclose the identities of the banks that have crossed the hurdle as at the time of filing this report.
