THE Central Bank of Nigeria has vowed to recover the various loans given under its intervention programmes, aimed at assisting households and businesses to cushion the negative impact of the COVID-19 induced economic crisis.
The Director, Corporate Communications Department, CBN, Isaac Okorafor, said this during an interview on TVC Business Programme.
Over N1.1tn had been set aside to support the local manufacturing sector as well as boost import substitution and other sectors of the economy.
He warned that the fund was not a grant, adding that beneficiaries of the fund would be made to repay what they collected based on the terms of agreement.
He said the objectives of the fund was to ensure that the economy does not slide into recession as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.
The coronavirus pandemic had led to unprecedented disruptions to global supply chains, sharp drop in global crude oil prices, turmoil in global stock and financial markets, among others.
These outcomes have had severe consequences on households’ livelihoods and business activities, resulting from a drop in global demand, decline in consumer confidence and slowdown in production.
Some of the major threats to the current projection for global economic growth include disruption to the global supply chain, arising from the Covid-19 pandemic; oil price downturn as a result of subdued global demand and vulnerabilities in major financial markets.
Others are rising corporate debt in the advanced economies and public debt in some emerging market and developing economies; as well as broad uncertainties leading to adverse shocks to foreign investment flows.
Okorafor said, “I want to let Nigerians know this, these are loans, they are not grants. They are not palliatives that would not be paid back. These are loans that would be paid back.
“So we have details of those who have been given the loans and they really have to pay them back at the appropriate time.”
On the creative industry, the CBN Spokesperson said the handover of the facility was timely, considering the various challenges facing the country’s economy at the moment.
He said that the renovation of the National Theatre would transform the facility into Nigeria’s Creative Industrial Centre.
