The Central Bank of Nigeria has announced an intervention in the country’s economy against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.
This was conveyed in a statement made available to journalists by the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele.
Emefiele said the intervention would see N1tr disbursed to support the manufacturing sector in providing for import substitution while the balance of N100bn would be to support health facilities, laboratories, researchers and innovators to work with global scientists to patent or produce vaccines and test kits in Nigeria, to combat crisis whenever they arise.
He stressed that the intervention became imperative as a result of the pandemic and its effect on the global scale.
Details on how the facilities can be accessed and the modalities for disbursement of the fund will be made public after the bank’s management and the bankers’ committee meeting on Saturday, he added.
“First, the CBN is directing all Deposit Money Banks to increase their support for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries; in local drug manufacturing, in increased bed count in hospitals across Nigeria, in funding intensive care as well as in training, laboratory testing, equipment and Research & Development.
“In addition to the N50bn soft loan to small businesses already announced, the CBN will increase its intervention by another N100bn in loan this year to support the health authorities.
“Second, given the continuing impact of the disease on global supply chains, the CBN will increase its intervention in boosting local manufacturing and import substitution by another N1tr across all critical sectors of the economy,” Emefiele said.
This intervention is in addition to the six palliatives earlier announced on Monday to cushion the effect of the pandemic.
