LCCI Charges FG On Banking Sector

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), has urged the Federal Government to intensify efforts at improving the operating environment of banks to reduce their lending rates.

Director-General, LCCI,  Mr Muda Yusuf, said in Lagos on Thursday that the step was necessary to reduce banks’ cost of running their daily activities.

Yusuf also said that this would  help to increase capacity building in banks and boost their profit margins.

He suggested that the government should improve the level of capitalisation of development banks like Bank of Industry and Bank of Agriculture, among others.

Yusuf said that this was vital because these banks were giving credits at very low interest rates, sometimes single digit interest rates.

He suggested that the government should reduce the cost of its borrowing from the financial sector, especially reduction in treasury bills and bonds issuance.

According to him, it will drastically reduce the lending rates, adding that it was not in the interest of the economy that government should borrow at high costs.

“This is important because banks will bench mark their lending rate to rates of treasury bills and government bonds,” he said.