Banking Briefs, BREAKING NEWS
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BISI Onasanya, group managing director, First Bank of Nigeria, said the proposed increase in Cash Reserve Ratio on public sector funds from 75 to 100 percent will reduce the amount money banks could lend to businesses and the public. He said that as a result of this, the country needed to decide if it wanted a psychologically stable exchange rate or drive the growth of the real sector.
He said: “The more these funds are restrained and tied down at the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, the less money there is to lend out and this affects the rate on lending. We need to decide if we want a physiologically stable exchange rate or we want to drive the real sector, adding that there is a need for the country to decide on the policy path it wanted to pursue.”
Onasanya said that Nigeria has become a nation that is fighting exchange rate without balancing the impact on growth, adding that inadequate and non-existent infrastructure in the country had turned businesses into local governments as they had to provide all they needed by themselves. According to him, the country needs to move away from shipping raw commodities to creating value chains and promoting productivity because Nigeria has everything it needs to survive as a country.
He noted that the country lacked the ability and proper framework to bring the best out of Nigeria and stressed the need for a better education system, saying, that it is much cheaper for any business to hire its staff locally, but with the current education system, an average graduate can’t give what is needed from him.
Alade Hosts African Central Bank Governors
SARAH Alade, acting governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, on Thursday, March 27, hosted a caucus meeting of governors of Central Banks of sister African countries. The meeting, one of the side events of the 7th Annual Meetings of African Union/Economic Commission for Africa, AU/ECA, conference of ministers of finance, planning and economic development, is scheduled for the CBN headquarters in Abuja.
The Abuja meeting discussed the general theme of the ministers’ meeting: “Industrialization for Inclusive and Transformative Development in Africa”with a view to coming up with strategies for fast-tracking the socio-economic development of the African continent.
The joint African Union/Economic Commission for Africa conference ends on March 30.
Ecobank Rewards Customers
ECOBANK has rewarded its customers who emerged winners in the first monthly draws of its Card 4 Prizes promo held in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja. According to the bank, the 15 lucky winners that emerged from an electronic draw witnessed by officials from National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Consumer Protection Council and others, went home with different prizes including smart phones, LCD TVs, air conditioners, home theatres and generators.
Winners from the Port Harcourt centre include Nwite Okoroafor, Ejiroghene Josephine, Ojo Omorovbie, Nweke Sunday Theophilus and Okiti Igho. At the Abuja centre, the winners were Ogunsola Adewale Waidi, Sarki Abdullahi, Agharite Derume, Isan Musa and Ada Dike. Winners from Lagos draw included Sani Mairiga, Iwara Obeten and Agboola Sunday.
Tunde Kuponiyi, head, cards and e-banking, said the promo is part of the bank’s efforts in supporting the use of alternative payment channels by customers and also strengthening the CBN’s cash-less policy. He explained that the promo which planned to run for three months, would see customers of the bank winning prizes that include sedan cars, paid trip to Brazil and scholarships valued at N300, 000 each.
He added that customers were expected to accumulate a minimum of 20 points to qualify for the monthly draw, while the grand finale draw which will also hold in the three centres,, would be based on total accumulated points during the course of the promo.
Fire Outbreak in CBN Contained
DISASTER was averted Thursday, last week, when fire partly scorched the Central Bank of Nigeria building in Lagos, due to timely intervention of fire service men. A press statement from CBN signed Isaac Okorafor, acting director, corporate communications department CBN, informed its stakeholders and the general public that the fire, which occurred on the first floor of the building, was put off by a combined team of fire fighters from the CBN and other institutions.
He assured its numerous stakeholders that the records of the bank were still intact, as it had an effective backup of all its records, as part of its disaster recovery infrastructure.
Razak Fadipe, director and head of the Lagos State Fire Service, had explained that they received a distress call around 5.45pm and “we deployed a 10,000 litre fire truck from the Onikan Fire Station to the scene and another 10, 000 litres truck from Sari Iganmu, including the area ladder. Also firemen from the federal fire service, UBA and Union Bank were also at the scene”.
Ibrahim Farinloye, spokesperson of the National Emergency Management Agency, South-West zone, said that no one was trapped or injured in the incident.
Compiled by Chinwe Okafor
— Apr. 7, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT
Tags: African Union/Economic Commission for Africa Annual Meetings of African Union/Economic Commission for Africa Bisi Onasanya Cash Reserve Ratio CBN Central Bank of Nigeria Consumer Protection Council Ecobank First bank of Nigeria Isaac Okorafor Jibril Aku Lagos State Fire Service National Emergency Management Agency National Lottery Regulatory Commission Razak Fadipe Sarah Alade South-West zone
