An audit of the financial statements of Nigeria’s Money Deposit Banks for 2021 has shown that the Central Bank of Nigeria cumulatively deducted N7.02 trillion from their accounts.
According to a report, the CBN penalised 10 banks for failing to meet the 27.5 per cent Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) threshold.
The affected banks are Access Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank), United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, FCMB group and Sterling Bank Plc.
Others are Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, and Zenith Bank Plc.
The CRR, which the apex bank introduced in 2019, requires that banks keep a certain amount of money from their customer deposits with the CBN.
Access Bank is reportedly the most affected, while Zenith bank trailed next to it. The bank with the least amount of money debited is Sterling bank.
Banks have criticised the policy for causing a drop in their profit.
