CBN Disburses N41.02 Billion to 4.6 Million Smallholder Farmers in October

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said it disbursed N41.02 billion to several smallholder farmers under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) across the country in the month of October.

This was stated in the bank’s communique no. 145 of the monetary policy committee minute published on Tuesday.

The apex bank has now disbursed a combined N1.067 trillion to 4.6 million smallholder farmers cultivating 21 commodities across the country.

In the same month, the central bank also provided a N0.30 million grant to large-scale agricultural projects under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS). Consequently, the total disbursement under the Scheme for agro-production and agro-processing stands at N745.31 billion for 680 projects.

Explaining the significance of the disbursement to the bank’s ongoing policy, the apex bank said it would help boost the non-oil export sector and deepen the nation’s foreign reserves.

In addition, the bank released the sum of N48.30 billion under the N1.0 trillion Real Sector Facility to seven (7) new real sector projects in agriculture, manufacturing, and services. Cumulative disbursement under this Facility currently stands at N2.15 trillion to 437 projects across the country, comprising projects in manufacturing (240), agriculture (91), services (93) and mining sector (13).

Furthermore, under the 100 for 100 Policy on Production and Productivity (PPP), the bank disbursed the sum of N20.78 billion to nine (9) projects in healthcare, manufacturing, and services.

The cumulative disbursement under the Facility, therefore, amounted to N114.17 billion in 71 projects. Moreover, the Bank disbursed N4.00 billion under the Intervention Facility for the National Gas Expansion Programme (IFNGEP) to promote the adoption of compressed natural gas (CNG) for transportation and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for cooking.

Meanwhile, the CBN-led monetary policy committee raised the interest rate by another 100 basis points from 15.5% to 16.5%. Therefore, the apex bank has risen interest rates by 500 basis points in 2022 alone.