·Liabilities to IMF 98% up to close 2024 at N5.1 trillion
·Bank recovers from loss position to N166b profit
·We recorded remarkable improvement, says monetary authority

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) spent an additional 104 per cent on personnel compared to 2023, the audited financial report released at the weekend disclosed.

In absolute terms, the bank incurred N595.9 billion on personnel expenses as against N291 billion it spent the previous year. At the group level, the personnel cost inched up from N295.4 billion to N608.5 billion. The rising cost of keeping a robust and quality manpower to keep up with time may have contributed to its fast-rising operating expenses.

The bank, during the financial cycle, incurred a total operating cost of N1.2 trillion, 78 per cent up from N673.4 trillion spent in 2023. Driving much of the growth, personnel cost accounted for 49.7 per cent of the total cost of running its operation.

Despite the total operating income almost over N15 trillion (almost hitting a threefold expansion), the bank was able to navigate out of N1.27 trillion loss in the previous year to a record surplus of N165.7 billion.

Its indebtedness to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stands out on its liabilities. As of the end of 2023, the CBN owed the Fund N2.52 trillion – an amount that almost doubled last year when it closed at N5.07 trillion. IMF’s allocation of special drawing rights, which is tied to the country’s shareholding in the institution, also rose from N4.86 trillion to N8.07 trillion.

The increase in the bank’s financial dealings with the IMF validates the uptick in Nigeria’s financial extroversion, which also aligns with the increasing tendency towards external market financing since President Bola Tinubu assumed office.

But the CBN’s biggest source of liabilities remained deposits, which went up from N38.23 trillion to N52.4 trillion. A 37 per cent increase in deposits with a central bank in a year raises concern about a potential crowding out effect of its activities on the private sector.

Still, the bank said it was a bullish performance, which it attributed to the effective containment of expenditure, gains on investments made by the bank and increased income from foreign exchange transactions.

The CBN said the financial statement reflected the bank’s commitment to economic stability, sound policy implementation and strategic financial management.

The apex bank noted that the report highlighted improvements in external reserves, asset quality cost efficiency and overall bottom-line improvement. On external reserves, the report said it increased from $36.6 billion in 2023 to $38.8 billion in 2024, adding that this was largely attributable to improvement in accretion to external reserves from portfolio investors, diaspora remittances and Federal Government’s receipts following improvement in the confidence in the economy.

It added that positive performance was also a consequence of proper investment management decisions aimed at boosting the reserves of the bank.According to the report, the performance also reflected the CBN’s firm commitment to external sector stability, ensuring Nigeria is better positioned to meet its international obligations, stabilise the naira and boost macroeconomic confidence.

The report noted a huge reduction in loans and receivables from N16.1 trillion to N11.9 trillion, which was attributed to significant recoveries from earlier intervention lending programmes, a deliberate policy shift away from intervention lending and ways and means financing.

It noted that the progress was achieved through strategic cost rationalisation initiatives, including a reduction in non-essential spending and streamlined operations across regional branches and departments.

The report highlighted that strictly in line with the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) regulatory requirement on ICFR, the Central Bank was able to assess its internal controls which was further certified effective by the joint external audit team.

One of the notable upticks in the year was the liquidity management operation cost which rose to N4.5 trillion from N1.5 trillion in 2023. However, the CBN explained that this increase was in tandem with its tightening monetary policy stance adopted to combat inflationary pressures throughout the year.