CBN Disburses Fresh N39.36 Billion Under ABP, 2023

Despite its commitment to tapering its interventions, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), released fresh N12.65 billion under its flagship Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP), in 2023 alone.

The amount, which was disbursed to three agriculture projects in January and February, brings the total disbursement through the scheme to N1.09 trillion.

In the same period, a fresh N23.7 billion was disbursed as part of the bank’s commitment under the N1 trillion Real Sector Facility and another N3.01 billion under the Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilisation Facility, which seeks to reduce the commercial risk in the power sector and its improve efficiency.

“The Bank released the sum of N23.70 billion under the N1 trillion Real Sector Facility to eight new real sector projects in agriculture, manufacturing and services. Cumulative disbursements under the Real Sector Facility currently stand at N2.43 trillion, disbursed to 462 projects across the country, comprising 257 manufacturing, 95 agriculture, 97 services and 13 mining sector projects…

“The Bank also released N3.01 billion under the Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilisation Facility (NEMSF-2) for capital and operational expenditure of distribution companies (DisCos) aimed at improving their liquidity status and aiding their recovery of legacy debt. This brings the cumulative disbursement under the facility to N254.39 billion,” the authority revealed.

The monetary authority had put the repayment rate of ABP at 52.39 per cent. The balance “was not due for repayment because they are under moratorium due to the COVID-19 forbearance granted to beneficiaries of the CBN’s interventions in March 2020 and extended to February 28, 2022”, a statement by the CBN said.

But the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its country report titled ‘Nigeria: Selected Issues’, had argued that as at January 12, 2023, about 76 per cent of the loans granted to farmers under ABP were yet to be repaid.

Earlier, the institution warned that CBN’s intervention programmes were crowding out commercial lending and that the expanded schemes had become a major cause of inflation.