CBN clarifies IMF’s ABP claims, says 52% of loans repaid

Temitope Adebayo

Contrary to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) claims that only 24 per cent of loans collected by farmers under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) have been repaid, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said N503 billion of loans under its ABP has been repaid.

Going by the IMF claims, it means that 76 per cent of the loans were yet to be paid, but with

Apex bank’s clarifications, it implies that the N503 billion repaid represents 52.39 per cent of the total loans collected by farmers under the programme.

In a statement on Monday, CBN’s Acting Director of Corporate Communications Department, Dr AbdulMumin Isa, explained that about 48 per cent of the loan has not been repaid.

Isa said the CBN has released N1.079 trillion under the programme, out of which N960 billion is due for repayment.

He also said the apex bank remains committed to its developmental mandate of stimulating access to finance for the real sector, adding that the ABP has supported about 4.57 million smallholder farmers who cultivated over 6.02 million hectares of 21 commodities across the country.

Some of the commodities, according to Isa, include rice, wheat, cowpea, millet, maize, cotton, fish, soya bean, poultry, cassava, groundnut, ginger, sorghum, oil palm, cocoa, sesame, tomato, castor seed, yellow pepper, onions, and cattle/dairy.

“The ABP had contributed significantly to the increased national output of focal commodities, with maize and rice peaking at 12.2 and 9.0 million metric tonnes in 2021 and 2022 respectively,” he said.

“The programme had also helped to improve the national average yield per hectare of the commodities, with productivity per hectare almost doubling within the eight years of the programme’s implementation.”

Isa also said repayments under the ABP have been made through cash or produce by the beneficiaries.

He noted that the outstanding due balance on loans was still under moratorium owing to the COVID-19 forbearance granted to beneficiaries of the apex bank’s interventions in March 2020 and extended to February 28, 2022.

“It is pertinent to note that the tenure of loans under the ABP is based on the commodity gestation period,” Isa said.

“For instance, loans granted to farmers cultivating some perennial crops could have up to a seven-year tenure.”

The CBN acting director said the bank’s interventions, with the core objective of catalysing the economy’s productive base, have continued to support investments in capital assets in sectors with high-growth and employment-elastic potential.

“The CBN remains committed to its developmental mandate of stimulating access to finance for the real sector, particularly agriculture, as it continues to support the federal government’s drive for food security and economic growth,” he added.

“Accordingly, the CBN continues to welcome applications from eligible Nigerian farmers and firms under the ABP.”

Last year, the apex bank said it would deploy the Global Standing Instruction (GSI) against loan defaulters under the ABP to ensure repayments.