The purse of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is expected to swell further by N74.4 billion on yearly basis, courtesy of the 12 percent interest per annum earning on the N620 billion it lent out to save eight troubled banks from going under.

 The apex bank is expected to make more ‘profit’ from the bail-out funds if troubled banks take longer time in paying back the debt.

A source said since the interest is on annual basis, banks that fail to pay up within a year, will continue to pay interest on what is left for other years. On the other hand, any of the eight banks could decide to pay up earlier, in which case the interest accruable to the apex bank will be smaller.

 But investigation shows that interest on loans to banks from the apex bank before now was given out at the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) which is currently 6.0 percent.

Some observers say the CBN may have decided to lift up interest rate in order to justify the reason it gave out the funds to the troubled banks.

It would be recalled that as soon as the loans were given out, critics hit out at the CBN for printing money and lending small out to the banks without approval from the Naitonal Assembly.

A House of Representative members, Femi Gbajabiamila took the CBN to court over the issue, wanting the court to, among others, decide whether the 1999 constitution empowers the defendants to raise money by printing and unilaterally spend it without the approval of the National Assembly.

But as it were, if these troubled banks pay the interest, the apex bank could easily argue that the venture was not a humanitarian one, but a business one.

 On the other hand, other observers are worried that the apex bank is benefiting from the problem these eight banks are experiencing.

According to Isaac Oloko, a businessman who banks with one of the troubled banks, for the apex bank to make profit from an unfortunate situation smacks of being a shylock.

He is more saddened by the fact that these banks are laying off staff in droves, while the CBN’s purse gets fatter.

 Lekan Ojo, a shareholder with one of the bailed-out banks, expressed sadness in that while the apex bank is happy shareholders are being taken to the dry cleaners, the fortunes of the central bank are jetting rosier.

For others like Harran Adamu, chairman, board of directors of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to inject N620 billion into eight ailing banks is not the solution, saying it would not guarantee against failure.

 He said “pumping money into banks is not the only solution to banks’ failure. Big banks have failed and can fail again. We (CBN and NDIC) have to continue to put in place measures that would ensure healthy banks.”

 He canvassed that instead of giving the stimulus package, the CBN should immediately put in place an enduring regime of proactive measurers to ensure that banks remain safe and sound, if the fund is to be safe guarded from going down the drains.