The Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions has invited the Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation and Deposit Money Banks to a meeting on Tuesday over the high interest rates being charged by financial institutions in the country.
The Senate panel has also invited the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria and several other bodies to the meeting based on a motion by the Chairman of the committee, Senator Rafiu Ibrahim.
The President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, had earlier criticised the charging of high interest rates on loans by Small and Medium-scale Enterprises in the country, a situation he said had forced some firms to close shops.
Saraki had hinted that the Senate would meet with the CBN, the DMBs and other financial institutions on the matter, with a view to bringing down the lending rate.
Ibrahim told our correspondent on the telephone on Sunday night that stakeholders in the financial and manufacturing sectors had been called to the meeting.
He said, “We are going to meet with them on Tuesday. We have invited the Central Bank of Nigeria, all Deposit Money Banks as well as development finance banks, the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, the Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises and the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture.
“Although the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry is under NACCIMA, we have invited them separately because of the peculiarity of Lagos.”
Ibrahim added that the National Economic Summit Group was also invited.
“We also invited some industry experts to give us their opinions,” he added.
The Senate had last Tuesday said Nigeria’s banking sector was being run by a cartel, a situation which was frustrating the monetary and fiscal policies of the Federal Government, adding that the group of bank owners had become strong that it was manipulating the economy.
The upper chamber of the National Assembly also condemned the high interest rates being charged by the DMBs on the SMEs. The legislature stated that Nigeria’s economy could not survive when it was difficult to run businesses.
The lawmakers had unanimously resolved to mandate the committee to organise a roundtable with the CBN, DMBs, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation as well as other relevant stakeholders and industry experts.
The roundtable is expected to find “immediate, sustainable and lasting solutions that will help usher in a new interest rate regime that supports enterprise development in Nigeria.”
Punch
