The group managing director of Afrinvest, Ike Chioke has said that recapitalisation of banks in Nigeria will strengthen the banking sector and provide enough capital to boost the economy.
Chioke made this known during the Sunrise Daily show on Channels Television on Friday morning.
He stated that the recapitalisation is necessary for banks to enhance their resilience, solvency and capacity while continuing to support the growth of the Nigerian economy amid the prevailing macroeconomic challenges.
The GMD added that the move by the central bank would see the banking industry bigger and stronger, improving its credit facilities to businesses and reducing borrowing costs.
While the present administration led by President Bola Tinubu aims to achieve a trillion dollar economy by 2026, Chioke noted that bank recapitalisation becomes necessary to aid the growth of the economy.
The CBN raised the minimum capital base for banks with international authorisation at N500 billion.
The Abuja-based bank also increased the minimum capital base for commercial banks holding national authorization to N200 billion, and for those with regional authorization to N50 billion.
Merchant banks now have a minimum capital requirement of N50 billion, while non-interest banks holding national and regional authorizations must adhere to new minimum requirements of N20 billion and N10 billion, respectively.
