Barbara Bako, Abuja.
The Bankers Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria said it is ready to begin the disbursement of funds under the Creative Industry Financing Initiative The decision to commence the disbursement of funds under the initiative was made at the end of the committee’s meeting held Thursday at the CBN headquarters in Abuja.
The Chief Executives of all the Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria, as well as other top officials of the apex bank, were present at the meeting. The Director, Banking Supervision Department, CBN, Mr Ahmed Abdullahi, while addressing journalists after the meeting, said that the decision to support the creative industry was borne out of the committee’s conviction that the sector held the key to job creation, poverty reduction and inclusive growth.
He was accompanied to the media briefing by the Managing Director, FSDH Quest Merchant Bank Kayode Akinkugbe, MD Ecobank Patrick Akinwuntan, MD FSDH Merchant Bank Hamda Ambah, Citibank MD Akin Dawodu and Director of Corporate Communications at the apex bank Isaac Okorafor. Other issues discussed at the meeting include consumer lending, mortgage financing and the need to encourage the culture of savings among Nigerians.
Providing more insights into the outcome of the meeting, Kayode urged interested applicants in the creative industry to submit applications to their banks for approval and disbursement. He also urged them to prepare the business plan or statement on how much they required for their businesses. On real estate he said the committee has decided to unlock the huge liquidity that various people have in the sector. He added that this would enable the banks to boost their contribution to the real estate sector towards adding value to the consumers.
He said, “We have had good dialogue in the past and there is a recognition in the Bankers’ Committee that it is time to execute a lot of the initiative that has been considered by the various sub-committee and acted on immediately. “Another initiative discussed is in the real sector, we want to release the trapped liquidity that various investments that people have in the real estate in land or in property.
Recognizing that there are some obstacles but ultimately we must find a way to navigate through.” Also speaking, the FSDH MD said that the committee also resolved that banks should support the pension industry to release up to 25 per cent of the N9tn Pension Fund Assets for the contributors of the fund to use as equity injection towards owing houses. She said, “Twenty five per cent of N9tn is worth over N2tn and if this fund can be used to stimulate demand for mortgage loans in our economy.
“It was agreed that the Central Bank would talk to fellow regulators and also work with government of various states to make the while process of land transfer and titling a lot easier so that many more people across the nation can access mortgage financing thereby stimulate demand in our economy.”
The committee also said that the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to retain the apex bank governor was good for financial stability and economic growth. It said that the move would also help to ensure the continuity of export stimulation programme of the CBN.
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