- Commercial banks in Nigeria gave out combined loans of N38.55 trillion in the first half of 2023.
- The banks' lending to customers within the period under review increased by 50%.
- Ecobank led the list of top banks with the highest customer loans, with N8 trillion.
In the first half of 2023, the total lending of eleven Nigerian banks increased by 50%, despite the CBN's high interest rates. According to the banks' financial filings, the total loans and advances made by the banks rose to N38.55 trillion in the first half of 2023 from N25.85 trillion in the same time in 2022, according to a Legit.ng report.
The banks with the biggest amount of loans to customers include Ecobank Transnational, Access Bank, Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa, Fidelity Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, and First Bank. Despite the high interest rates established by the CBN, clients will still want loans in H1, which is why banks increased their lending, according to analysts cited by BusinessDay.
Ecobank leads the list with N8 trillion
Because the majority of banks have a sizable component of their loan books in foreign currency, which implies that the naira equivalent will be greater if converted to the exchange rate, analysts believe that the naira depreciation is mostly to blame for the surge in the banks' loan books.
The rate at which the CBN loans to commercial banks is known as the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), and it frequently influences the cost of money in the economy.
Loans to increase further as CBN tightens policies
The benchmark interest rate of the apex bank increased from 11.5% to 18.75% in July of last year, marking the start of its monetary policy tightening cycle. Concerns exist that the CBN may raise interest rates further in an attempt to combat inflation, which has allegedly gotten worse as a result of President Bola Tinubu's recent measures. The abolition of gasoline subsidies and the floating of the naira were the main causes of Nigeria's inflation.
With N8 trillion in loans and advances to consumers in H1, Ecobank was at the top of the pack, up 103.8% from the previous year.
Other banks with the highest loans to customers
First Bank boosted its lending to N5.26 trillion from N3.38 trillion, while Access Bank increased its loans by 45.2% to N6.71 trillion. In the first half of 2023, Zenith Bank saw a 44% increase in lending to N5.05 trillion, UBA gave customers loans totaling N4.5 trillion, Fidelity Bank gave customers loans totaling N2.65 trillion, GTBank gave customers loans totaling N2.32 trillion, and Stanbic IBTC gave customers loans totaling N1.66 trillion. 6 months, trillion customers.
In 2023, FCMB lent N1.54 trillion to its customers, up 37.5% from the previous year. Wema Bank and Unity Bank lent N627 billion and N199 trillion, respectively.
Access Leads, UBA 3rd: Top Nigerian banks with highest loan amounts to customers in 2023.
According to a previous article by Legit.ng, during the first half of 2023, lending to customers by Nigerian banks listed on the Nigerian Exchange surged dramatically. Eleven banks had paid out N26.83 trillion to their clients as of the end of June 2023, according to information obtained by Legit.ng.
First Bank Holding Company, Access Holding Company, Zenith Bank, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), United Bank for Africa (UBA), Fidelity Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Sterling Bank, Unity Bank, and Wema Bank are the banks that were surveyed.
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