Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has pledged to reposition Nigerian banks through recapitalisation in his second term in office.
Mr Emefiele said this on Monday at a press briefing on his policy roadmap for the next five years as CBN governor.
He said that recapitalisation of Nigerian banks was long overdue because it was last done in 2004 by the apex bank’s former governor, Prof. Charles Soludo.
“We will pursue the programme of recapitalisation of our banks in the next five years to ensure they are among the top 500 in the world.
“It is Soludo that did the last recapitalisation of banks in 2004 from N2 billion to N25 billion.
“If you relate N25 billion to present exchange rate, you realise it is lower than $75 million.
“The then recapitalisation has been weakened and there is need to recapitalise and reposition the Nigerian banks,” he said.
In the next five years, Emefiele said the CBN would work with deposit money banks to enable micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have access to credit.
According to him, MSMEs constitute about 90 per cent of businesses in the country.
Emefiele also pledged to ensure lower lending rates by banks during his second tenure.
