The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Yemi Cardoso, has disclosed that 14 banks have fully met the new capital requirements under the apex bank’s ongoing recapitalisation exercise.
Cardoso made this known on Tuesday in Abuja while presenting the communiqué of the 302nd meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).
The recapitalisation framework, announced earlier this year, raised minimum capital thresholds based on licence categories: ₦500 billion for commercial banks with international authorisation, ₦200 billion for national banks, and ₦50 billion for regional banks. Merchant banks must meet ₦50 billion, while non-interest banks are required to have ₦20 billion (national) and ₦10 billion (regional).
The last major recapitalisation in 2004 saw the minimum requirement raised from ₦2 billion to ₦25 billion, triggering a wave of mergers that reduced Nigeria’s banks from 89 to 25.
According to Cardoso, the MPC commended the progress made so far, urging the CBN to sustain policies to ensure successful completion of the recapitalisation.
He noted that the MPC also welcomed the termination of forbearance measures and waivers on single obligors, which it said would strengthen transparency, risk management, and long-term financial stability in the banking sector.
“The MPC reassures the public that the impact of the removal of forbearance is transitory and does not pose any threat to the soundness and stability of the banking system,” Cardoso said.
On monetary policy, the MPC cut the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 50 basis points to 27 per cent, from 27.5 per cent, citing five consecutive months of disinflation and projections of further decline in inflation through the rest of 2025.
It also adjusted the standing facilities corridor around the MPR to +250/-250 basis points, reduced the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for commercial banks to 45 per cent (from 50 per cent), retained the CRR for merchant banks at 16 per cent, and maintained the Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent.
In addition, the committee introduced a 75 per cent CRR on non-TSA public sector deposits to enhance liquidity management.
