Posted by By JAMES OJO, Abuja. on
Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Professor Chukwma Soludo, told the House of Representatives Committee on Finance yesterday that the apex bank generated a total of N644 billion between 2003 and 2007 and expended N459 billion within the same period.
Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Professor Chukwma Soludo, told the House of Representatives Committee on Finance yesterday that the apex bank generated a total of N644 billion between 2003 and 2007 and expended N459 billion within the same period.
Rendering the financial position of the apex bank to the committee, chaired by Hon. John Enoh, Soludo said CBN invested N91.402 billion in several government subsidiaries within the same period.
According to him, N105.76 billion was for appropriation, while N20.1 billion was kept for general reserve and N85.4 billion remitted as surplus to the coffers of the government.
Professor Soludo noted that the investments into the government businesses never yielded any revenue as most of them keep knocking on the CBN's door for re-capitalization.
According to him, the bank's major investments are in the controversial African Finance Corporation (AFC) with the total investment of N57 billion, followed by that of the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC) with the total investment of N13.24 billion.
The apex bank's investments in the Bank of Industry (BOI) and the Nigerian Export Import Bank stood at N7.8 billion and N6.3 billion respectively.
On the revenue generation profile of the bank, Soludo stated that the bank does not generate income just as he added that the statutory responsibility of the CBN as the government bankers
Chairman of the committee, however, disagreed with the submission of the CBN governor that the investments of the apex bank in all government subsidiaries never yielded any returns.
In the 2008 budget alone, he said N10 billion was provided for security and printing for government ministries, department and agencies and that such printing business would naturally go to NSPMC.
Soludo disagreed, saying that the NSPMC as an organization was temporarily dead and the CBN was just trying to resuscitate it.
He explained that the budgetary allocation in the budget would not necessarily go to the company because they are operating in a competitive business environment.