The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Wednesday published its 2017 Annual Activity Report, a major highlight of which was the 27.01% rise in the value of transactions undertaken by Federal Government Ministries, Department and Agencies MDAs), following the enforcement of Treasury Single Account (TSA).
Transaction volume rose 3.84% to 39.71m in 2017, value stood at N13.529tr, compared to 38.24m transactions worth N10.652tr, a situation the report linked “to the rise in the number of MDA accounts migrated to the TSA.
Payment instructions, according to the report prepared by the CBN’s Banking & Payments System Department, “comprised of recurrent, overhead and capital expenditure,” just as more domiciliary accounts were opened under the TSA framework, as requested by the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAFG) for MDAs. On-line access was established with some correspondent banks to facilitate accounts reconciliation and cash management.
Also, the report showed that N431.3bn was earned from domestic and foreign exchange sources, representing a significant N429.54bn, or 24,405% more than the N1.76bn reported in prior year.
Interest earned from the apex bank’s Standing Lending Facility stood at N36.3bn, up by 45.61% from N24.93bn in 2016, due to the unease experienced by some market participants within the period under review.
According to the ….the apex bank realised N123.69bn from FGN Bonds in 2017, an increase of 8.05%, compared with N114.48bn recorded in 2016. This, it explained, was due to the additional holding of three tranches of FGN Bond totaling 1.029tr units during the reviewed period.
Interest on tenured repurchase transaction increased from N0.67bn in 2016 to N24.5bn, a situation that was also blamed on liquidity unease in the money market during the period.
CBN also raked in N26.52bn and N1.76bn came from nominal and rediscounted Nigerian Treasury Bills (NTBs), as against the N5.34bn and N4.6bn respectively in 2016; while interest earned on loans and advances increased by a marginal 3.22% to N31.43bn, from N30.45bn in 2016.
Interest earned from Ways and Means Advances rose by N6.58bn in 2017, to N9.71bn from N3.13bn in 2016, helped by the Federal Government’s “recourse to the advances to fund emergency intervention on Food Security, to support the population affected by insurgency in the North-Eastern part of the country and as a result of Paris Club refund to state governments.”
Earnings from interest on Federal Government Treasury bonds for the period stood at N8.36bn, as against N10.15bn in 2016, representing a decrease of 17.64% which was due to the redemption of matured FRN Treasury Bonds in the reviewed year.
The apex bank earned N1.032tr on Remita transactions , down by 41.59% from N1.766tr in 2016, “attributed to termination of processing fees on the Remita platform for e-collection.”
A total of N3.5bn was earned also as 1% commission on sale of forex to the Public Sector (government), compared with N1.98bn in 2016, indicating an increase of 76.77%.
The cumulative amount accessed at the Standing Lending Facility (SLF) window in 2017 was N51.534tr, up by 93.04% from N26.697tr, in 2016, “as several banks with liquidity challenges accessed the window to square their positions.”