From N59.24tn at the end of December 2021 to N73.59tn in the same time of 2022, the total assets of the banking sector increased by N14.36tn or 24.24%. This information was provided by the Central Bank of Nigeria in a personal statement given by Aishah Ahmad, Deputy Governor of the Financial System Stability Directorate of the CBN, at the most recent meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee.
“Important industry statistics also continued their year-on-year increasing trajectory,” she said. “Total assets increased to N73.59 trillion in December 2022 from N59.24 trillion in December 2021, while total deposits increased to N45.50 trillion from N38.42 trillion during the same time.
From December 2021 and December 2022, total credit expanded by N5.14 trillion, including notable increases in lending to the manufacturing, general commerce, and oil & gas sectors.
This remarkable growth was made possible by the non-performing loan ratio, which continued to drop and fell from 4.90 percent in December 2021 to 4.20 percent in December 2022.
She claimed that the financial sector had substantially supported the required domestic economic resilience against global shocks and had continued to be robust through 2023. She said that, even as credit to the private sector grew, data provided by Bank employees showed stability in broad soundness measures and an extraordinary increase in asset quality.