September 08, (THEWILL) – Nigerian banks’ borrowings from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN’s) Standing Lending Facility (SLF) increased to N737.05 billion in May 2022 from N612.43 billion in the previous month, according to the CBN latest monthly economic report.
This is indicative of N124.62 billion uptick representing 20.4 percent rise during the period.
The report also noted that consumer credit outstanding grew by 0.8 percent to N2,344.10 billion at end-May, from N2,325.97 billion in the preceding month
The apex bank said “the total standing lending facility increased considerably by 20.4% to N737.05 billion relative to N612.43 billion at end-April 2022. Similarly, relative to the preceding month, the total standing deposit facility increased slightly by 0.2 per cent to N321.23 billion from N320.55 billion.”
“At the open buyback (OBB) segment, as the rate increased by 190 basis points to 9.39 per cent, the value of transactions declined to N213.75 billion from N228.42 billion in the preceding month. The average daily number of deals in the OBB segment fell to 64 from 75 deals in the preceding period,” the apex bank added.
The CBN  noted that Consumer Credit outstanding grew by 0.8% to N2,344.10 billion at end-May, from N2,325.97 billion in the preceding month.
“The sustained increase in consumer credit reflected a growth of new financial product offerings and the effectiveness of the bank’s various policies to encourage credit expansion. By disaggregation, retail loans recorded a sizable growth of 13.2%, to N554.83 billion from N489.97 billion at end-April, while personal loans decreased by 2.5% to N1,789.26 billion relative to N1,835.99 billion in the preceding month,” the report further stated.
The SLF is a platform where commercial banks access funds to carry out their business activities and meet obligations. The SDF window is the portal where commercial banks deposit funds with the apex bank.
The CBN had hiked  interest rate to 14% in July 2022 and the savings deposit interest rate increased to 4.2% from 1.4% in order to curb rising inflationary pressure as well as encourage FX inflow into the economy.
