Nigeria’s central bank announced new minimum capital requirements for banks on Thursday to fortify the nation’s financial system and increase the resilience of banks.
According to the Central Bank of Nigeria, commercial banks with foreign authorization must have a minimum capital base of 500 billion naira, or $353, 32 million.
The central bank announced that it is also establishing a new minimum capital base of 200 billion naira for commercial banks with national authorization and 50 billion naira for those with regional authorization.
The central bank stated that it is pushing banks to think about possibilities like new equity capital infusions, mergers and acquisitions, and upgrading or lowering license authorization to help them achieve the new capital criteria.
According to the announcement, banks have two years to comply with the increased capital requirements.
Nigeria’s annual inflation rate is above 30%, the worst in nearly three decades, exacerbating a crisis in the cost of living that has left millions of people in the most populous country in Africa struggling to afford necessities.
