Commercial banks disbursed N622.99bn for 600 projects under CACS

Commercial banks operating in the country have disbursed a total sum of N622.99 billion for 600 projects under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revealed.

CACS is a facility, which was established by the CBN and Federal Ministry of Agriculture to fast track the development of the agricultural sector in Nigeria by giving loans support to businesses.

The apex bank disclosed this in its economic report for the fourth quarter of 2019, stating that a total amount repaid since inception stood at N387.27 billion at end December 2019, compared with N368.0 billion reported in 2018.

The breakdown by leading commercial banks revealed that Zenith Bank plc top amount disbursed while First Bank of Nigeria plc lead-in terms of total projects executed.

LBN however, gathered that the Zenith Bank has disbursed N126.94 billion for 78 projects and repaid N83.3 billion while First Bank of Nigeria disbursed N52.99billion for 104 projects and repaid N44.8billion as at December 2019. United Bank for Africa plc disbursed N83.53 billion repaid N56.8 billion and executed 52 projects while Access Bank plc disbursed N36.66 billion for 26 projects and disbursed N30.3 billion.

In addition, Guaranty Trust Bank plc (GTBank) disbursed N39.85 billion for 29 projects and Ecobank Nigeria plc disbursed N6.38billion for 10 projects.

On the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme (ACGS), the report noted that a total of N778.3 million loans was guaranteed to 5,182 farmers in the fourth quarter of 2019.

“This represented a decrease of 35.9 and 8.7 per cent below the levels in the preceding quarter and the corresponding period of 2018, respectively.

“Sub-sectoral analysis showed that food crops obtained the largest share in the total, with N300.0 million (38.5 per cent) guaranteed to 1,910 beneficiaries.

“This was followed by the livestock sub-sector, N162.4 million (20.9 per cent) guaranteed to 607 beneficiaries; mixed crops, N146.6 million (18.8 per cent) in respect of 1,905 beneficiaries; while cash crops, fisheries and “Others” got N89.4 million (11.5 per cent), N52.4 million (6.7 per cent) and N27.4 million (3.6 per cent) guaranteed to 469, 158 and 133 beneficiaries, respectively.

“Analysis by the state showed that 31 states and the Federal Capital Territory benefited from the Scheme in the review quarter, with highest and lowest sums of N133.4 million (17.1 per cent), and N2.3 million (0.3 per cent) were guaranteed to Adamawa and Gombe states, respectively.”

The report by CBN stated that Agricultural activities in the fourth quarter of 2019 was centred on the harvest of cash and root crops.

“Farmers in the Northern part of the country continued with the preparation of land and nurseries for vegetables as well as pre-planting operations for dry season farming. In the livestock sub-sector, farmers engaged in the fattening of cattle and stocking of poultry in the anticipation of the end of the year sales,” the report added.

The report noted that total assets and liabilities of commercial banks stood at N40,874.60 billion at end-November 2019, representing 3.2 per cent increase above the level at end-September 2019.

The report stated that “Funds were sourced, largely, from increased unclassified and foreign liabilities, and mobilisation of time, savings and foreign currency deposits.

The funds were used, mainly, for the acquisition of unclassified and foreign assets, and to boost reserves.

“At N22,967.73 billion, banks’ credit to the domestic economy, at end-November 2019, showed an increase of 3.8 per cent, compared with the level at end-September 2019. The development reflected, largely, the 4.7 per cent and 3.6 per cent rise in claims on the Federal Government and the private sector, respectively, in the review period.

“Total specified liquid assets of the commercial banks was N14,664.56 billion at end-November 2019, representing 60.6 per cent of the total current liabilities. At that level, the liquidity ratio was 2.9 percentage points and 43.3 percentage points above the level at end-September 2019 and the stipulated minimum ratio of 30.0 per cent, respectively.

“The loans-to-deposit ratio, at 62.9 per cent, was 0.7 percentage point higher than the level at end-September 2019, but 17.1 percentage points lower than the prescribed maximum of 80.0 per cent.”

On foreign exchange inflow, the report disclosed that aggregate foreign exchange inflow into the CBN amounted to $13.29 billion, showing an increase of 6.1 per cent over the level in the third quarter of 2019, but decreased by 15.9 per cent below the level in the corresponding period of 2018.

The report explained further that the development, relative to the preceding quarter reflected, mainly, the rise in non-oil receipts.