The Central Bank of Nigeria has demonstrated the power of its mace by penalizing 14 banks for failing to meet up with the required cash reserve of 27.5 per cent.
The apex bank gave a heavy blow to the deficient banks with various fines, ranging from N40 billion to N2 billion.
The bank took similar action in December when it hit the banks with a N170 billion fine for failing to meet up
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a disciplinary measure against 14 banks for not meeting up to the required 27.5 per cent Cash Requirement obligation.
The apex bank cumulatively debited the 14 banks N356.1 billion for their failure to keep a minimum bank balance.
The new debit happened last Friday, January 4, 2022, according to a ThisDay report and has left many in the banking sector very angry.
Zenith and Providus banks are the biggest hit by the penalty.
Available data shows that Zenith bank and Providus banks were the hardest hit while Fidelity Bank was the least debited by the CBN.
Zenith and Providus were debited N170 billion. FCMB got punished with N39 billion, First Bank saw N27 billion removed from its account, GT Bank N20 billion while Citibank had N12 billion removed by the CBN.
Stanbic IBTC, Union Bank and Polaris banks were debited N10 billion respectively while Keystone was penalised with N6 billion, Ecobank N5 billion, Sterling Bank, N3.6 billion and Fidelity and Nova Merchant banks were debited N2 billion each.
This action by the CBN last happened in December when the banks were cumulatively debited N175 billion.
The CBN has issued a stern warning to banks not to starve Nigerians of funds especially during the festive periods. The banks flouted the order resulting in them being inflicted with heavy fines.