Banks borrowing from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) dropped marginally by 0.45 per cent to N1.35 trillion in the first quarter of 2022 compared to N1.36 trillion reported by the apex banking regulating body in the prior first quarter of 2021.
Banks through the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) on a daily basis deposit excess liquidity with the apex bank.
The trend in the first three months, as gathered from the CBN revealed a steady decline in bank deposits, driven by further improvement in the level of liquidity in the interbank system.
In January, banks deposited N572.5billion with CBN but it dropped by 48.2 per cent to N489.05billion in February. In addition, the borrowing dropped further to N296.8billion in March.
Banks’ deposit applicable interest rate for the SDF is 4.5 per cent.
In November 2014, the CBN said it observed that banks and discount houses preferred to keep their idle balances in the SDF with the apex bank.
Unfortunately, this preference contributed to the restraining of the financial intermediation process, the reason the CBN opted to review the guidelines for the operation of the SDL.
The review recommended that daily placements by discount houses and banks at the SDF should not exceed N7.5 billion.
Head Financial Institutions’ Ratings Agusto & Co, Mr. Ayokunle Olubunmi explained: “Because CBN is implementing the discretionary CRR, banks were being careful in terms of sourcing for deposits because it doesn’t make sense for you like your bank to get deposits and then CBN is actually holding them sternal. So, banks are being careful with deposits.
“2022 is going to be much more drastic if the CBN does not change their stance. Because what we have seen last year is that banks are getting a bit more reluctant to lend. If not well managed, it could cause a dysfunction in the economy.”
