The Central Bank on Nigeria (CBN) says it has disbursed a total of N2.49 trillion credit between May and June 2021 as part of efforts to spur activities across several sectors of the economy.
The revelation was contained in the communique released after the 137th meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee of the CBN in Abuja.
A breakdown shows that of the total amount, N756.51 billion was for smallholder farmers, N120.24 billion was for cultivation during the current wet farming season, N121.57 billion for Agribusiness/Small and Medium Enterprise Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS) and N318.17 billion under the Targeted Credit Facility.
A further breakdown shows that N3 billion was under the National Youth Investment Fund (NYIF), N3.22 billion for the Creative industry, N923.41 billion for the real sector project, N98.41 billion for the healthcare sector, N36.04 billion for the National Mass Metering Project and the N120.29 billion released under the Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilization Facility.
The apex bank granted N756.51 billion to 3,734,938 smallholder farmers cultivating 4.6 million hectares of land, of which N120.24 billion was extended for the 2021 Wet Season to 627,051 farmers for 847,484 hectares of land, under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP).
For the Agribusiness/Small and Medium Enterprise Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS), the sum of N121.57 billion was disbursed to 32,617 beneficiaries; while for the Targeted Credit Facility (TCF), N318.17 billion was released to 679,422 beneficiaries, comprising 572,189 households and 107,233 Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs).
Under the National Youth Investment Fund (NYIF), the Bank released N3.0 billion to 7,057 beneficiaries, of which 4,411 were individuals and 2,646 SMEs.
Under the Creative Industry Financing Initiative (CIFI), N3.22 billion was disbursed to 356 beneficiaries across movie production, movie distribution, software development, fashion, and IT verticals while under the N1.0 trillion Real Sector Facility, the Bank released N923.41 billion to 251 real sector projects, of which 87 were in light manufacturing, 40 in agro-based industry, 32 in services and 11 in mining.
On the N100 billion Healthcare Sector Intervention Facility (HSIF), N98.41 billion was disbursed for 103 health care projects, of which, 26 are pharmaceuticals and 77 are in the hospital services. Similarly, the sum of N232.54 million was disbursed to five beneficiaries under the CBN Healthcare Sector Research and Development Intervention (Grant) Scheme (HSRDIS) for the development of testing kits and devices for Covid-19 and Lassa Fever.
As for the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP), N36.04 billion was disbursed to 17 Meter Asset Providers, to nine (9) DisCos, for the procurement and installation of 657,562 electricity meters.
The CBN released N120.29 billion to 11 DisCos through the Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilization Facility – 2 (NEMSF-2), to provide liquidity support and stimulate critical infrastructure investment needed to improve service delivery and collection efficiency.
Emefiele noted that the disbursement impacted the money market reflecting in the net liquidity position and interest rates in the economy, leading to the rise in the monthly weighted average Inter-bank Call and Open Buy Back (OBB) rates to 16.87 and 16.39 per cent in June 2021 from 15.95 and 16.18 per cent in May 2021, respectively.
