Do Not Charge Double-digit Interest Rate On Intervention Funds – Cbn Tells Banks

BEVERLY HILLS, December 08, (THEWILL) – The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has urged Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) in the country to desist from charging double-digit interest rate on intervention funds guaranteed by the apex bank.

This was contained in a statement by Isaac Okorafor, acting Director, Corporate Communications, CBN, revealing that Emefiele gave the warning during an interaction between young farmers and the Presidential Task Force on Agricultural Commodities and Production at the Owowo Model Farm Estate in Abeokuta, Ogun state.

Emefiele assured the young farmers of funding support from the CBN through their respective PFIs urging them asked them to report any bank that charged above 9 per cent interest on loans guaranteed by the CBN.

He assured them that development finance officers of CBN were available to assist them on how to access credit from its various intervention funds to create wealth and meet the country's food needs.

He further told the young farmers to take advantage of the Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme (YEDP) and the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF) by the CBN to create wealth.

THEWILL recalls that President Muhammadu Buhari launched the CBN Anchor Borrowers' Programme in Kebbi on November 17, 2015, aimed at upgrading small farmers to commercial farmers, thereby achieving the objective of stimulating the needed capacity to meet the nation's increasing food needs.

Meanwhile, other intervention fund by the CBN in the agricultural sector include Agricultural Credit Support Scheme, Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme and Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme.

Story by Oputah David