After issuing a 3-month ultimatum (from July to September) to commercial banks, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) decided to step up to impose monetary sanctions.

The institution required banks to lend at least 60% of their deposits to economic agents, in particular farmers, SMEs and consumers.

In a statement released to the press on Thursday, October 3, the BCN indicated that it plans to invoice an amount of more than 400 billion naira (1.3 billion dollars) to 12 local banking establishments.

The bank of banks has announced that it will meet with the regulator of the Nigerian banking system to discuss this issue.

According to internal sources (BCN), institutions such as Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank, Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, First Bank and United Bank for Africa are affected by this measure.

“loans had increased by 5.3% in the three months to the end of September, to reach 16.40 billion naira, due to the new minimum requirement and the increase in the target loan ratio, in the purpose of maintaining momentum,” the central bank revealed.

And to add, "over the past few months, the regulator has also limited interest-bearing deposits at the central bank and prohibited banks from buying treasury bills for their own accounts at an auction on the market. free, in order to stimulate lending”.

According to CBN forecasts, the Nigerian economy is expected to recover in 2019 and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to grow by almost 3%, up from 1.9% last year.

The Nigerian economy has been shaken by a recession for some time, but the BCN is pursuing a policy of discounting (lower key rates, etc.) to revive economic activity. 'use.