The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday announced an increase in the capital base for different categories of banks in the country. A statement made on Thursday by the CBN’s Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Hakama Sidi Ali, in Abuja, said the capital base of banks with international authorisation had been increased to N500 billion while that of national banks was increased to N200billion. The CBN noted that commercial banks with regional authorisation are expected to achieve a N50 billion capital base. In contrast, merchant banks are expected toshore up their capital to N50 billion as the minimum capital requirement. The apex bank directed non-interest banks with national and regional authorisations to boost their capital to N20 billion and N10 billion, respectively.
The CBN noted that all banks are expected to meet the minimum capital requirement within 24 months, commencing from 1 April and terminating on 31 March 2026.
Similarly, non-interest banks with national and regional authorisations will need to increase their capital to N20bn and N10bn, respectively.
The CBN’s move came two days after the Monetary Policy Committee hinted that it would change the capital base of the nation’s banks.
At the press briefing that followed the 294th MPC meeting on Tuesday, the CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, urged DMBs to expedite actions to increase their capital base to strengthen the financial system against potential risk.
In its meeting, the committee noted that to guard against risk, commercial banks in the country should accelerate their recapitalisation efforts.
