Three major issues occurred in the banking industry last week. The issues were the call for the establishment of a collateral bank, the inflation rate (year-on-year) for February to trend up to 9.85 per cent and the protest by customers over excessive bank charges.
The latter was organised by the Consumer Advocacy Foundation of Nigeria (CAFON) and the Coalition of Nigerian Consumer Protection Associations.
Although the protest achieved less success in terms of a boycott, but the message, according to stakeholders, had been sent.
Among those who applauded the protest was the Director-General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mr Muda Yusuf.
Yusuf said the protest tagged, “No Banking Day’’ boycott was a reflection of the awakening of bank customers to their rights.
He said that the protest would put the banking institutions on their toes.
According to him, let them (banks) know that they cannot be taking customers for granted.
Also on March 4, the Group Managing Director of CFL Group of Companies, Mr Lai Omotola, proposed the establishment of a collateral bank to help the over 10 million businesses in the country have access to capital.
Omotola, an infrastructure development financier, stressed that the establishment of the bank became imperative “to unlock access to capital by businesses and entrepreneurs in Nigeria.’’
He advocated the initiative in a letter he addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, respectively, on Feb. 29 and March 4, respectively.
Besides, in the week under review, the research arm of the FSDH Asset Management Ltd, said it expected the inflation rate (year-on-year) for February to rise to 9.85 per cent from 9.62 per cent in January.
According to FSDH, the increase will be as a result of the volatility in the foreign exchange market, during the month.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is expected to release the inflation rate for February on March 17.
Also, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) met commercial lenders during the week under review, to assure them of the sale of foreign currency to repay foreign loans.
The CBN, however, said that the banks needed to pay off matured Letters of Credit first, before negotiating new ones, to prevent a backlog.
