CBN disburses over N70bn to farmers under the Anchor Borrowers’ Program (ABP).

Under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) disbursed a N75.9 billion loan to farmers between November and December 2021. (ABP).

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NewsReport gathered that the fund supported the cultivation of more than 383,000 hectares of maize, rice, and wheat during the dry season of the previous year, increasing the total amount disbursed under the program for more than 4.5 million smallholder farmers growing 21 different commodities to N927.94 billion.

According to a CBN report, excess production from the supported farmers will be released to the Nigeria Commodity Exchange (NCX) in order to lower market food costs.

The bank also released N1.76 billion to finance two large-scale agricultural projects under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS).

In addition, the apex bank disbursed N151.23 billion under the Real Sector Facility to 15 additional projects in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and services.

The funds were used for greenfield and brownfield (expansion) projects under the COVID-19 Intervention for the Manufacturing Sector (CIMS) and the Real Sector Support Facility from Differentiated Cash Reserve Requirement (RSSF-DCRR).

According to the report, cumulative disbursements under the Real Sector Facility stood at N1.40 trillion, disbursed to 331 projects across the country.

To support the resilience of the healthcare sector, the bank also disbursed N498.00 million to two healthcare projects under the Healthcare Sector Intervention Facility (HSIF), bringing the cumulative disbursements to N108.85 billion for 118 projects, comprising 31 pharmaceuticals, 82 hospitals, and four other services.

To support households and businesses affected by COVID-19, the bank disbursed N20.29 billion to 40,521 beneficiaries, comprising 35,340 households and 5,181 small businesses, under the Targeted Credit Facility (TCF) within the period.