Banks repay N387 billion agric loan to CBN
The financial institutions under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS) have refunded a total of N387.2 billion to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as part of the total N622 billion disbursed to commercial banks.
The N622 billion fund was disbursed to participating banks to enable them to finance commercial agricultural enterprises by giving farmers loans at a maximum interest rate of 9%.
Out of the N83.5 billion disbursed by the CBN to United Bank of Africa for 52 projects, about N53 billion was repaid. Zenith Bank Plc and First Bank of Nigeria repaid the sum of N83.3 billion and N44.8 billion out of the N126.94 billion and N52.99 billion received respectively.
Other banks include Unity Bank with N13.9 billion; Union Bank, N21.5 billion; Stanbic IBTC, N19.7 billion; Sterling Bank, N28.9 billion; Access Bank, N30.3 billion; Fidelity Bank, N14.3 billion; and Polaris Bank, N11.7 billion.
First City Monument Bank repaid the sum of N11.6 billion Ecobank, N6.4 billion; Guaranty Trust Bank, N24.4 billion; defunct Diamond Bank, N4.2 billion; and Heritage Bank, N2.4 billion. Others are Citibank, N3bn; Keystone Bank, N8.5 billion; Wema Bank, N1.3 billion; and Sun Trust Bank, N300 million.
The apex bank said over 1.13 million jobs have been created along the various agricultural value chains. Director, Corporate Communications Department, CBN, Isaac Okorafor, explained that this was done through the CACS, which provided credit facilities to commercial agricultural enterprises at a single-digit interest rate.
The CBN’s spokesperson added that the utilisation of agro-allied companies has increased through various interventions by the CBN in the sector.
Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS) is a sub-component of the Federal Government Commercial Agriculture Development Programme financed from the proceeds of the N200bn seven-year bond raised by the Debt Management Office.
The CACS was among the many agricultural schemes of the CBN that was established to fast-track the development of the agricultural sector. In collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources in 2009, the CACS was also introduced to enhance national food security, reduce the cost of credit in agricultural production; increase national output, generate employment, and raise the level of foreign exchange earnings of the country.
(Nairametrix)
