Banks’ credit to govt surges 17.7% to N16.6trn

Credit to the government rose by N2.5 trillion or 17.7 per cent to N16.6 trillion as at April 2022 from N14.1 trillion as at January, 2022.

This was contained in the latest Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Money and Credit data for April 2022, which showed that credit to the government rose steadily in the four-month period, rising from N14.1 trillion in January 2022 to N14.7 trillion in February, and to N16.3 trillion in March before advancing to N16.6 trillion in April 2022.

The data showed that the banks’ public sector credit dominated their assets distribution, representing 30.9 percent of the N53.7 trillion total credit assets of the banks during the period. .

According to the CBN, credit to the private sector rose during the period by N1.93 trillion or 5.5 per cent to N37.13 trillion in April 2022 from N35.2 trillion in January 2022.

Meanwhile, the total credit allocation rose by N4.5 trillion or 9.14 per cent to N53.7 trillion in April 2022 from N49.2 trillion in January 2022.