Naira

 Against the backdrop of worsening power supply in Nigeria, Deposit Money Banks’ (DMBs) credit to the power and energy sector increased to N15.55trillion between 2019 and 2021, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data has revealed.  A breakdown of the numbers showed that banks in 2021 alone, extended N10 trillion credit to the power and energy sector, about 14 per cent of the N71.71trillion total private sector credit. Aside the power sector, Agriculture, Mining & quarrying, manufacturing, Oil & Gas Power & Energy, Construction, Trade/General Commerce, Government, Information & Communication, among other sectors were extended credits. In 2020, the Bureau reported N2.91trillion DMBs sectoral allocation of credit to the power and energy sector, an increase of 10.6 per cent from N2.63trillion in 2019. According to the bureau report, DMBs in 2019 reported N46.13billion out of the N1.06trillion sectorial Non-Performing Loan (NPL) and it dropped to N33.22billion in 2020 out of the N1.23trillion total sectoral NPL. Commenting on DMBs increasing lending to the power and energy sector, the Managing Director, ARM Securities Ltd, Mr. Rotimi Olubi noted that the energy need of the country required more capital and it is the DMBs that can.

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