CBN debits banks N216.1 B for CRR compliance

… Zenith Bank, Stanbic IBTC , GTB leads

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has debited 26 banks the sum of N216.1 billion as part of its CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) compliance requirement.

The latest CRR debit is coming ahead of the CBN’s foreign exchange auction. According Nairametrics, a trader, who earlier spoke to the medium on condition of anonymity, revealed that it has become a tradition.

“Because they don’t want banks coming with huge demands to the FX auction, what they do is that a day before the FX sales, they debit the banks so that the naira you have available is small and you cannot put them under pressure because of your FX demands,” the source said.

The affected banks are:
Access Bank Plc: N5 billion,
Citibank: N11 billion
Coronation Merchant Bank: N2 billion
Ecobank: N9 billion
FBN Merchant Bank: N2.5 billion
Fidelity Bank Plc: N5 billion
First Bank of Nigeria Ltd: N15 billion
FCMB: N15.5 billion
FSDH: N251.2 million
Globus Bank: N1 billion
GTBank: N25 billion
Heritage Bank Plc: N1.5 billion
Keystone Bank Limited: N1.4 billion
Nova Merchant Bank Ltd: N6 billion
Providus Bank: N1.2 billion
Rand Merchant Bank: N335.5 million
Polaris Bank Ltd: N6 billion
Stanbic IBTC: N30 billion
Standard Chartered Bank: N10 billion
Sterling Bank Plc: N3.3 billion
SunTrust Bank: N683.9 million
Titan Trust Bank: N500 million
Union Bank of Nigeria Plc: N8 billion
Unity Bank Plc: N9 billion
Wema Bank Plc: N567.7 million
Zenith Bank Plc: N46.3 billion

Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR), is the minimum amount banks are expected to retain with the Central Bank of Nigeria from customer deposits. In January, the CRR was increased by 5% to 27.5% by the CBN Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) who explained that the decision was intended to address monetary-induced inflation whilst retaining the benefits from the CBN’s LDR policy.

Recall that two weeks ago, the apex bank debited banks about N459.7 billion for the same reason and some banks in the current list were also affected.