Omodele Adigun
Within the first six months of this year, no fewer than 3,890 banks and customers’ disputes were resolved by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the apex bank has said.
According to CBN in a Half-Year Economic Report for 2018, 1,439 of the complaints were against banks while the remaining 2,451 were lodged against other financial institutions operating in the country.
However, when compared with 2017, the report showed that this year’s cases were more than the total 2,411 complaints of the same period last year.
In 2017 1,141 of the complaints were lodged against banks while 1,270 received and resolved by the apex bank were for other financial institutions.
The report showed further that routine examination of 21 banks revealed 100 percent compliance in respect of outward telegraph/SWIFT, savings account and current accounts maintenance charges, and validation of refunds.
However, it also indicated that lower levels of compliance were recorded on the implementation of directives issued after the last examination, in areas of adherence to interest rate on executed offer letters, application of SMS charges and treatment of outstanding complaints.
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The bank noted further that in addition to the examinations, the apex bank sustained interventions in the inter-bank and bureaux de change (BDC) segments of the foreign exchange market, including increased frequency of sales to BDCs to ensure liquidity and stability in the market and abolished commission charges on invisible foreign exchange transactions.
Also, during the period under review, the report disclosed that CBN signed a three-year bilateral currency swap agreement with the Peoples’ Bank of China (PBoC), worth 15 billion yuan (N720 billion), equivalent to $2.5 billion to boost liquidity and facilitate trade and investment.
In the first half of this year, the bank noted that the Naira average exchange rate to the US dollar, at the inter-bank and BDC segments, appreciated by 0.03 percent and 0.5 percent, respective to N305.79/$ and N362.25/$, compared to the levels in the second half of 2017.
Other highlights of the report are that broad money supply (M2) grew by 2.8 per cent to N24,814.00 billion at end-June 2018, annualised to 5.6 per cent, compared with the benchmark of 10.8 per cent for fiscal 2018.
This growth in M2 was attributed mainly to the significant rise in net foreign assets, which more than offset the contraction in other assets (net) and domestic credit (net) of the banking system during the period under review.
It also indicated however, that the nation’s foreign reserves which stood at N6,360.47 billion, fell by 1.9 per cent, compared with the 6.3 per cent decline at end-June 2017.
This is even as the apex bank reported that Narrow money supply (M1) dropped by 4.2 percent to N10,701.10 billion at end-June 2018, on account of the 14.7 per cent and 2.3 per cent decline in currency outside banks and demand deposits, respectively.
The report showed further that currency-in- circulation fell by 12.0 per cent to N1,900.67 billion at the end of the first half of 2018.
The report attributed the growth in M2 mainly to the significant rise in net foreign assets, which more than offset the contraction in other assets (net) and domestic credit (net) of the banking system during the period under review.
It also indicated that however, that the nation’s foreign reserves which stood at N6,360.47 billion, fell by 1.9 per cent, compared with the 6.3 per cent decline at end-June 2017.
This is even as the apex bank reported that Narrow money supply (M1) dropped by 4.2 percent to N10,701.10 billion at end-June 2018, on account of the 14.7 per cent and 2.3 per cent decline in currency outside banks and demand deposits, respectively.
The report showed further that currency-in- circulation fell by 12.0 per cent to N1,900.67 billion at the end of the first half of 2018.