Bank Borrowing From CBN Rises By 260% To N21.87trn

Depositmoney banks (DMBs) borrowed the sum of N21.87trillion from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) via the Standing Lending Facility (SLF) window and Repurchase Lending (RPL) platform in 2020, according to the CBN financial data.
This represents a 260per cent increase when compared to the N5.744trillion recorded via the same windows in 2022.
It, however, represents a 19.3per cent decrease when compared to the N27.08trillion the banks borrowed from the apex bank in 2021.
The apex bank has two short-term lending windows for banks and merchant banks namely-Standing Lending Facility (SLF) and Repurchase (Repo) lending.
While the CBN lends money to banks and merchant banks through the SLF at interest rate of 100 basis points above the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), it also lends money to banks through Repo arrangement, which involves the purchase of banks’ securities with the agreement to sell back at a specific date and usually for a higher price.
The financial data by the CBN revealed that borrowing by banks and merchant banks through the SLF in 2022 dropped by 14.25per cent to N11.15trillion as against N13.01trillion in 2021.
The month-on-month breakdown of SLF revealed that the DMBs and merchant banks in January 2022 borrowed N313.48billion from the CBN.
It, however, dropped to N186.48billion in February.
The financial data by apex bank showed that SLF data in March stood at N377.13billion and increased further by 62.4per cent M-o-M to N612.43billion in April 2022.
For May, the CBN reported N897.05billion, after which the borrowing increased significantly to N1.93trillion in June.
However, the financial data by apex bank showed N1.46trillion and N1.19trillion for July and August 2022, respectively.
In addition, the DMBs and merchant banks had borrowed N836.5billion in September; N464.07billion in October; N1.56trillion in November and N1.33trillion in December 2022.
Consequently, borrowing by the DMBs and merchant banks through the CBN’s Repo declined by 24per cent to N10.7trillion in 2022 from N14.07trillion disclosed by financial data in 2021.
For Repo, the data by the CBN revealed N968.8billion in January but it dropped to N480.35billion in February.
With nine Repo activities in March, a sum of N343.48billion was reported.
It, however, increased to N474.83billion in April.
For other months, the CBN data showed that N870.32billion was borrowed in May; N1.65trillion in June; N3.07trillion in July; N1.62trillion in August; N1.197trillion in September and N46.32billion in October.