Charles Onyekamuo
16 August 2008
Onitsha — The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Chukwuma Soludo has said the volume of depositors' money in all banks operating in the country stood at N6.7 trillion as at June this year.
The figure, he said, is N5.5 trillion higher than the pre-CBN consolidation era. Then, depositors' funds with the banks stood at N1.2 trillion.
Soludo said that the number of depositors in the banking system is now about 25 million, while the banks dominate the Nigerian Stock Exchange market,which he said remains the fastest growing market in Africa.
The CBN governor was speaking at the All Saints Cathedral field, Onitsha, Anambra State at the formal opening of the Entrepreneurship Develop-ment Centre (EDC) corporate headquarters.
He said the successes already recorded in banking sector reforms had progressed a great deal, with a phenomenal rise in the size of credit that is being injected into the economy through the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME). He however noted that the CBN realised that despite the quantum of money in the banks' vaults, a large chunk of the public remains "un-banked."
That, he emphasised, informed the setting up of the micro-finance banks that will work in the communities where individuals can access funds.
Putting the number of micro-finance banks across the country at over 750, which is still below an envisaged target of 780, Soludo said about N20 million is usually needed in setting up one of such banks.
He said Anambra state has the second largest number of micro-finance banks after Lagos state.
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