The direct development intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the nation’s real sector has been estimated at about N1.36 trillion.

Besides, the sustained credit stimulation efforts by the regulator has been described as incentives aimed at enthroning a regime of “reasonable rates” in banks, not overshadowing them.

The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, who made the disclosure while declaring open the 21st seminar for finance correspondents and business editors, in Ibadan, yesterday, noted that the country has no choice now than to support real sector activities, as oil economy has crashed.

The CBN chief said that besides the primary roles of ensuring monetary, price and financial stabilities, the challenging economic issues globally have necessitated the adoption of development angle in regulating the system by developed and emerging economies, which CBN has also keyed into. For example, the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States and Bank of England have at various times directly intervened in boosting the fortunes of their economies by injecting funds, subsidising rates and promoting the growth of different sectors.

A breakdown of the disbursements show that the Real Sector Support Facility (RSSF) received N300 billion; the Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF) got N220 billion; the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) got N75 billion; and the Nigeria Electricity Market Stabilization Fund received N213 billion. Others include the Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) support at N50 billion for the export refinancing and restructuring facility; and the Non-oil Export Stimulation Facility that received N500 billion.

Emefiele said that the far-reaching objective of CBN’s implementation of the schemes and programmes for the real sector is to achieve huge employment capabilities, high growth opportunities, significant accretion to foreign reserves, expansion of the industrial base and diversification of the national economy.