CBN Recovers N253 Billion From Beneficiaries Of FG Intervention Loan Programmes, Details Emerge

• The Central Bank of Nigeria recently received a lot of commendation for improving its financial records and posting a profit after years of losses
• One of the factors that contributed to the profits was the recovery of several outstanding loans from previous years
• This is a breakdown of the sums owed in all the federal government intervention loans, and the amounts recovered

Legit.ng journalist Ruth Okwumbu-Imafidon has over a decade of experience in business reporting across digital and mainstream media.

The Central Bank of Nigeria announced a significant turnaround in its 2024 financial results, posting a N38 billion profit to reverse 2023 losses.

This improvement is largely attributed to the recovery of over N250 billion from various federal government intervention loan programmes.

The bank recovered this sum in 2024, after CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso announced his decision to phase out the bank’s development finance initiatives.

The recovery led to a major drop in outstanding monies from intervention loans. At the bank level, the loans dropped from N3.336 trillion to N3.083 trillion year-on-year, indicating a recovery of N252.996 billion.

At the group level, they recovered N224.64 billion to reduce the intervention loans from N1.883 trillion to N1.658 trillion.

Major FG intervention loan programmes

Recall that the federal government has floated several intervention loan programmes through the Central Bank of Nigeria, including the Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme, the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, the Real Sector Support Facility, the BOI Debentures, and other legacy intervention programmes.

These programmes target a particular sector or industry, and provide them with low-interest loans to trigger growth in line with the federal government's priority.

The Anchor Borrowers’ programme was launched in 2015 to improve food security in Nigeria by connecting smallholder farmers with off-takers. The programme generated controversies over the years over allegations of rising defaults and limited transparency.

The CBN Governor was directed to improve the records and recover over N1 trillion disbursed under the programme.

In 2024, this programme recorded the highest recovery with about N112.922 billion recovered into the CBN coffers, reducing the outstanding balance from N424.825 billion in 2023 to N311.903 billion in 2024 at the group level, and from N408.801 billion to N296.83 billion at the bank level.

Full list of loans the CBN recovered in 2024

1. From the Anchor borrowers programme, N112.922 billion was recovered.
2. From the Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme, CBN recovered N43.33 billion to reduce the outstanding balance from N101.783 billion in 2023 to N58.453 billion in 2024.
3. The CBN recovered N37.507 billion from the Real Sector Support Facility, reducing the outstanding balance from N98.237 billion to N60.730 billion.
4. From the BOI Debentures, CBN recovered N9.941 billion, reducing the outstanding balance to N52.055 billion.
5. From the Non-Oil Export Facility, CBN recovered N5.855 billion, reducing the outstanding balance to N8.071 billion.
6. The Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises loans slightly reduced from N443.652 billion to N442.73 billion, showing a recovery of N922 million.
7. N802 million was recovered from the Export Development Facility, reducing the outstanding balance to N139.621 billion.
8. The outstanding balance under the Accelerated Agricultural Development Scheme reduced from N4.365 billion to N990 million, following an impressive recovery of N3.375 billion.
9. The CBN recovered the entire outstanding sum of N802.918 billion from the NESI Stabilisation Strategy Limited Debenture targeted at the power sector, reducing it to zero.
10. From the NBET Payment Assurance Facility, CBN recovered N3.363 billion to reduce the outstanding to N44.954 billion.
11. From the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance, CBN recovered N744 million, slightly reducing the outstanding balance to N36.855 billion.
12. The apex bank recovered N3.547 billion from the 6% Perpetual Debentures, reducing the outstanding from N4.793 billion to N1.24 billion.
13. From the NESI Stabilisation Strategy Limited Loan, CBN recovered N8.461 billion to reduce the outstanding sum to N368.371 billion.

There are a few programmes where no reduction was recorded. For the NIRSAL Lending Debenture, which is the largest on CBN’s balance sheet, outstanding rose from N268.655 billion to N269.380 billion, the PUNCH reports.

The Nigerian Youth Investment Fund also increased from N95 million to N112 million, while the outstanding balance for Advances to the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria remained N9 million.

Recall that the CBN's N200 billion loan to the electricity distribution companies is under investigation.

CBN cuts back on loans to FG by 59%

In related news, the CBN has cut its Ways and Means advances to the federal government by nearly 59%, signalling a shift toward stricter fiscal and monetary discipline.

This move will help curb inflation and reduce the federal government's dependence on central bank borrowing.

Recall that the monies borrowed from ways and means had reached N22.7 trillion before the Senate approved the securitisation of the loan, converting it into long-term debts.

Proofreading by James Ojo, copy editor at Legit.ng.

Source: Legit.ng