The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has put the total amount it has injected across the various sectors in the economy as part of efforts to cushion the impact of the COVID-19 at N670 billion, out of the N3.5 trillion stimulus package it had proposed.
The Director, Development Finance Department, CBN, Mr. Yila Yusuf, disclosed this last night during an interview on ArisExchange, a programme monitored on ARISE NEWS Channel.
This is coming as the apex bank has unveiled a, “Framework for Advancing Women’s Financial Inclusion in Nigeria,” to build upon the 2018 National Financial Inclusion Strategy (Revised).
“The central bank released a stimulus package worth N3.5 trillion and as we speak today, we have provided funding in excess of N670 billion across various sectors,” he said.
Yila listed the sectors that benefitted from the fund to include agriculture, manufacturing and services. According to him, the agriculture sector was allocated 40 per cent of the amount; manufacturing – 33 per cent and services – 27 per cent.
For agriculture, he said the intervention included the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, which is the major food programme of the federal government where he said the apex bank has so far disbursed in excess of N180 billion for the wet season.
“And we are planning for the dry season. As you are aware, there were floods in some parts of the north-west and so it is important that we do a major intervention during the dry season. It is going to be the largest that has been done so far in the country. In construction, there are some many projects going on at the free trade zones and the same thing in services. We are really trying to keep jobs, promote production and enhance supply,” he explained.
He said the central bank is deploying both conventional and unconventional monetary policy tools to fight the impact of the pandemic on households and businesses.
“One key recommendation of the sub-committee was to develop a comprehensive framework that provides a guide and blueprint for women’s financial inclusion.
This framework is the outcome of the gender sub-committees’ work and follow-up work by the CBN and Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA).
“It builds upon the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (Revised) (October 2018), and integrates valuable insights from the Assessment of Women’s Financial Inclusion in Nigeria (December 2019). This framework takes as an additional reference point Nigeria’s Sustainable Banking Principles, which promote women’s economic empowerment through a gender inclusive workplace culture in business operations and seek to provide products and services designed specifically for women.
“Alongside these national reference points, the framework is based on what is considered international best practice in advancing women’s financial inclusion.”
