The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that 14 commercial banks have fully met the new capital requirements.
CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso, disclosed this to reporters on Tuesday, at a press conference after the meeting of the apex bank’s monetary policy committee.
The CBN governor said commercial banks have been urged to continue implementing policies and initiatives to ensure the successful completion of their ongoing recapitalisation exercise.
It would be recalled that on March 28, 2024, the CBN raised the minimum capital requirement for commercial banks with international licences to N500 billion.
For national commercial banks, the amount was N200 billion, regional commercial banks N50 billion, and non-interest banks requiring N20 billion (national) or N10 billion (regional).
The deadline for compliance is March 2026, and only paid-up share capital and share premium count towards meeting this requirement.
Since then, many banks have embarked on capital-raising moves, including share offers and bond issuances, to meet the target.
On July 22, the CBN said only eight banks had fully met their recapitalisation requirements.
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Cardoso said the monetary policy committee has adjusted the cash reserve ratio for commercial banks to 45 percent, while it remains at 16 percent for merchant banks.
Additionally, he revealed that a new ratio of 75 percent has been introduced for non-public sector deposits.
Also, Cardoso added that the liquidity ratio has been maintained at 30 percent, and the standard facilities corridor has been adjusted to +/- 250 basis points.
He said the oil sector has shown an improvement, growing by 20.46 percent and commended the efforts of the federal government, while calling for enhanced security to ensure economic growth in the oil sector.
