New Telegraph

CBN: Banks’ credit to economy hit N70.19trn in February

Banks’ credit to the economy increased by N19.48trillion (38.41 per cent) to N70.19trillion in February this year from N50.71trillion in the corresponding period of 2022, latest data released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) shows. According to the “Money and Credit Statistics” for February 2023, released by the apex bank yesterday, of the net domestic credit, banks’ credit to the private sector and net credit to government stood at N41.75 trillion and N28.43 trillion respectively. New Telegraph’s analysis of the CBN’s data shows that banks’ credit to the private sector increased by N5.77trillion or 16.03 per cent to N41.75 trillion in February this year from N35.99trillion in the corresponding period of last year.

The data also indicates that when compared with the figure for January 2023 (N41.54trillion) banking sector credit to the private sector in February increased by N212.04 billion or 0.01 per cent. Similarly, the data shows that net credit to government rose by N13.71trillion or 93.13per cent to N28.43trillion in February this year from N14.72trillion in the corresponding period of 2022.

In addition, the data shows that net credit to government rose by N1.79trillion or 6.73per cent to N28.43trillion in February 2023 from N26.64trillion in the preceding month. Further analysis of the data indicates that Currency Outside Banks (COB) rose to N843.31billion in February this year from N792.18billion in the preceding month. Also, currency in circulation fell to N982.09billion in February from N1.39trillion in January. Analysts note that banking industry credit to the economy has maintained an upward trend in recent years, driven by policies that the CBN introduced to encourage Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to increase lending to the private sector as part of its efforts to boost economic growth.

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