▪︎CBN Governor, Dr. Olayemi Cardoso.
The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise [CPPE] has called for a fresh recapitalisation of the banking industry in Nigeria.
Dr. Muda Yusuf, CEO of the CPPE, made the call in a ten point agenda for the new Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Olayemi Cardoso.
He said: ” The minimum capital requirements of the banking industry need to be reviewed in the light of the considerable loss of value amid depreciating domestic currency.
During the banking consolidation exercise of 2004, the minimum capital requirements for banks was raised from N2 billion to N25 billion.
The revised capital requirement was an equivalent of $187 million.
Today the same N25 billion is an equivalent of just $32.5 million.
This is a clear indication of the phenomenal erosion of the capital base of the banks.
Recapitalization of the banks has therefore become imperative.
” It is important to ensure that the capital base of banks can support their current exposures in the interest of the stability of the financial system,” he said.