Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, has stated that the bank has disbursed N370 billion out of the N400 billion allocated under its Targeted Credit Facility.
Emefiele made the remarks on Tuesday at the 2021 annual Bankers’ Committee session in Lagos, which had the subject ‘Building resilience for economic growth.’
He stated that in order to control the downturn and promote the recovery of Nigeria’s economy, the monetary and fiscal authorities implemented a series of policy measures that have supported the rebound in Nigeria’s growth, which will commence in the fourth quarter of 2020.
“Other CBN policy measures that we implemented to assist the economy’s recovery include the establishment of an N400 billion Targeted Credit Facility for households and small and medium-sized businesses.” “Nearly N370 billion has been distributed to over 800,000 beneficiaries,” he said.
According to him, the N1tn facility established for local manufacture and production in vital areas is funding 53 manufacturing, 21 agriculture-related, and 13 service projects.
Emefiele stated that a N200 billion healthcare intervention fund was established for pharmaceutical companies and healthcare practitioners to build and strengthen the country’s healthcare institutions.
He stated that, in accordance with its duty to support a sound monetary and financial system and in collaboration with the fiscal authorities, the CBN took exceptional efforts to control the effects of the epidemic on the economy and stimulated greater productivity in critical sectors.
He stated that the CBN worked with fiscal authorities to develop significant policy support measures as part of the Economic Sustainability Plan to restore stability and catalyze growth.
According to the CBN governor, the CBN’s actions served to spur and sustain the economy’s recovery and realign broad macroeconomic conditions.
He stated that as a result of policy efforts, the economy will exit recession in the fourth quarter of 2020 with a 0.11 percent growth rate, which will rise to 0.51 percent in Q1 2021.
“On the back of this recovery, the CBN remains focused on strengthening the fundamentals of the Nigerian economy,” he stated, “by employing mostly innovative and sometimes extraordinary measures to diversify the economy, boost domestic productivity, and reduce our reliance on imports.”