President Bola Tinubu and the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) have urged banks to deepen financing of the real sector and ensure that Nigeria’s improving macroeconomic conditions translate into lower living costs, more jobs and better living standards.
The call was made at the opening of the 19th Annual Banking and Finance Conference of the CIBN in Abuja, where stakeholders said the success of Nigeria’s economic reforms should ultimately be measured by their impact on households and businesses.
Speaking at the conference, Taiwo Oyedele, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, representing Tinubu said Nigerian banks must rethink their approach to risk and play a more active role in financing productive sectors rather than focusing predominantly on profits and shareholder returns.
Tinubu said strong bank profits alone were no longer sufficient, stressing that the financial system must demonstrate its contribution to the broader economy.
“For years, we have measured financial institutions by balance-sheet growth, profitability and shareholder returns. These remain important. But we must increasingly ask: what is the financial system doing for the real economy?” he said.
