DMBs Must Support FG’s Job Creation Efforts -CBN

• DMBs Must Support FG’s Job Creation Efforts -CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday said the Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) must support the Federal Government in asset creation, the CBN said at the annual banking and finance conference in Abuja.

Mr. Godwin Emefiele, the governor, CBN, who was represented by Deputy Governor, Economic Policy Directorate of CBN, Joseph Nnana, said, DMBs must scale up their operational landscape through capacity building and modern digital skills that are capable of creating jobs for Nigerians.

“We must support the government in creating jobs for the teaming population. That’s why we employ banks to ensure that idle assets, idle liquidity are transferred to asset creation,” Joseph Nnana stated.

“Today, the central bank is calling on the banking system to be alive to its responsibility. We cannot proceed with an economy without banks. Neither can we conceive banks without an economy. The days of arm chair banking, playing in the treasury bills space are right behind us.”

Nnana highlighted some of the apex bank’s recent initiatives, the 60 percent loan to deposit ratio, to emphasise that the central bank is very serious on growth and new job creation.

“As Nigerians, the future of our country is in our hands. And that future must be defined by the banking industry. Without money, we go nowhere; in any economy in the world, with money, we can go places – provided the managers of this money are anxious to do well for the economy. And I know we shall do well for this country,” Nnana added.

Accordingly, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who also was a special guest of honour at the event, said the financial services industry must challenge itself to partner with the public sector on job creation and growth stimulation while simultaneously redefining itself to benefit from the nation’s economy and its people, especially with regards to the recently signed African Continental Free Trade Area.

“We must jointly think through how to really lend to the SMEs and the entire real sector; how to deepen capital market and financial mediation; how to partner in developing our mortgage market, what we need to do to deepen consumer credit; lending to agriculture,” he said.

Uche Olowu, president of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, said financial institutions have to reimagine banking in the contest of daily lives, our routines, our needs, our desire and the impact on our future to stay atop of things.

“Consequently, we must embed, finance infrastructure into the nation’s payment system as we put the customer in control and the heart of our business model through democratizing access to data. We must transform financial services by creating value. The scale of change requires a broader and strategic system of structure. Incumbent banks therefore, should step up their strategic responses,” he stated.