Nigeria ups the ante on banks with tougher lending demands

Bloomberg

Nigeria’s central bank is increasing pressure on lenders to keep providing credit to boost economic growth in Africa’s biggest oil producer.
The West African nation’s banking regulator raised the minimum loan-to-deposit ratio to 65 percent from
60 percent to “sustain the momentum” seen in lending since it first lifted the measure in July, it said. Banks have until December 31 to comply with the directive or risk an additional cash-reserve requirement equal to 50 percent of the lending shortfall implied by the ratio.
The directive comes after some lenders failed to meet an earlier deadline to ramp up lending, Ahmad Abdullahi, director of banking supervision, said.