Nigeria banks remain stable-NDIC

Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) on Tuesday said Nigerian banks remain stable despite the country’s negative rating by the global credit rating agency, Moody’s.

The Moody’s Investors Service (Moody’s), one of the global credit rating agencies, had recentlychanged its outlook on Nigeria’s ratings to negative from stable.

This is even as the corporation explained that protectingdepositors’ money and ensuring transparency has been the major reason for its risk-based interventions.

The NDIC Deputy Director for Bank Examination, Abdulhameed Aliu, disclosed this at the ongoing workshop for business editors and finance correspondents organised by the Corporation in Yola, Adamawa State tagged, “Nigerian Banking System Stability: Tackling Emerging Issues.”

Aliu said the regulators, which included the NDIC and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), had put in place frameworks that would continuously ensure that the banking industry remains strong.

He said that the commercial banks’ Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) had improved from 10 per cent to 15 per cent. CAR is a measurement of a bank’s available capital expressed as a percentage of its weighted exposures.

The deputy director said the development meant that Nigerian banks were insulated against some level of risks.

Aliu noted that the regulator had come up with an electronic template that monitors excessive charges among banks.

Meanwhile, the Corporationrevealed that its collaboration with the CBN to carry out risk-based interventions over the years, ensured that depositors funds are safe in banks across the country.

He said that the intensified oversight between the Central Bank of Nigeria and the NDIC have made banks to be uptight in discharging their functions.

“Our oversight in collaboration with the CBN in the area of oversight has ensured a more proactive approach by banks as we undertake risk-based supervision on examining banks to comply with regulations and ensure they manage their risk adequately in transactions.