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Manufacturers got N1.08trn for over 42 projects
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it has so far paid out the total sum of N864 billion to 4.1 million farmers to cultivate 5.02 million hectares of land under its Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) since inception in November 2015.
Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the CBN, disclosed this while reading out the MPC communiqué following the conclusion of the last policy committee meeting for the year.
The CBN also disbursed the sum of N43.19 billion to support the cultivation of over 250,000 hectares of maize, sorghum, soya beans and rice during the 2021 dry season; and N5.88 billion to finance six large-scale agricultural projects under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS) between the months of September and October 2021.
It also said the sum of N41.2 billion was paid out for the commencement of the Brown Revolution, a large-scale wheat programme to wean Nigeria off imports by 35 percent in the first year; with another sum of N261.92 billion for 42 additional projects under the N1 trillion manufacturing intervention, bringing the cumulative sum paid out under the scheme to N1.08 trillion.
Emefiele also disclosed that members of the committee (MPC) lauded the success achieved so far by the bank’s various intervention schemes, which have contributed to both the demand and supply sides of the economy, while emphasizing on the performance of the CBN’s various interventions aimed at sustaining recovery of output growth and addressing the downside risks to other external and domestic shocks to the economy.
Emefiele said various interventions continued largely in manufacturing and industries, agriculture, energy and infrastructure, healthcare and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). He added that the CBN has disbursed a total of N363.49 billion to 766,719 beneficiaries, comprising 638,070 households and 128, 649 small businesses under the Targeted Credit Facility, as well as the sum of N134.63 billion released to 37,571 entrepreneurs under the Agribusiness Small and Medium Enterprise Investment Scheme (AgSMEIS).
In another development, the CBN helmsman said the sum of N5.39 billion was released to Nine (9) healthcare projects under the Healthcare Sector Intervention Facility (HSIF) as part of its efforts to support the resilience of the healthcare sector. He further said the apex bank cumulatively disbursed the sum of N108.65 billion to hospitals and the pharmaceutical industry with 54 of the 117 projects being funded for hospital services where the funding under the health sector has resulted in the establishment of two (2) new cancer centers, over 59 MRI and more than 42 CT scan centers in Nigeria, within the last 18 months.
More so, under the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP), the sum of N8.69 billion was disbursed to four electricity distribution companies (DisCos) under the scheme’s Phase-0 while the sum of N47.66 billion has been disbursed so far for the acquisition of 858,026 meters.
Also, in furtherance of its intervention in the energy sector, the bank released N27.03 billion to power sector players under the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Payment Assurance Facility (NBET-PAF). This, according to the apex bank, is in addition to the N37.69 billion disbursed to eight distribution companies (DisCos) recently, under the Nigeria Electricity Market Stabilisation Facility (NEMSF-2).
Also, the sum of N39.2 billion has been released under the Nigerian gas expansion programme to promote the migration to compressed natural gas (CNG) as the preferred fuel for transportation and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as the preferred cooking fuel, noting that the Targeted Credit Facility (TCF) was particularly highlighted by the MPC for its contribution to alleviating poverty at the grassroots.
The policy committee urged the central bank to sustain its support through the TCF to ensure that more people benefit from this programme.
