CBN Confirms Banks Raising Funds to Meet Capital Threshold

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced that Union Bank, Keystone Bank, and Polaris Bank are in the process of raising necessary funds to meet the minimum capital requirements set by the recapitalization program. As of Tuesday, the CBN confirmed that 33 banks have met the revised minimum capital threshold, with a total of ₦4.65 trillion raised over 24 months.

Dr. Olubukola Akinwunmi, the new Director of Bank Sector Supervision at CBN, emphasized that these banks are continuing to conduct transactions safely while undergoing regulatory and judicial reviews. The CBN governor noted that the banks are fully operational and that depositors should not panic.

The recapitalization program aims to ensure banks maintain adequate capital to absorb lending risks, with a target capital adequacy ratio of 10% for Nigerian banks, above the international standard of 8%. The CBN is also set to unveil a new payment system vision to enhance Nigeria's digital finance ecosystem.