CBN disburses N41.2bn to cut wheat imports

The Governor of the Central Bank (CBN) of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, has said the bank has disbursed N41.2 billion under its intervention schemes to cut wheat production.

Speaking after the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, he said, “The bank also disbursed the sum of N41.2 billion for the commencement of the brown revolution, a large-scale wheat programme to wean us off imports by 35 per cent in the first year.”

He said between September and October 2021, the bank, under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, disbursed N43.19 billion to support the cultivation of over 250,000 hectares of maize, sorghum, soya beans and rice during the 2021 dry season.

He said N5.88 billion was disbursed to finance six large-scale agricultural projects under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme.

Emefiele added that the bank had disbursed the total sum of N864 billion to 4.1 million farmers, cultivating 5.02 million hectares.

He said the bank disbursed the N261.92 billion for 42 additional projects under the N1 trillion manufacturing intervention.

“Cumulatively, the bank has disbursed the sum of N1.08 trillion under this scheme. As part of its effort to support the resilience of the healthcare sector, the bank disbursed N5.39 billion to nine healthcare projects under the Healthcare Sector Intervention Facility.

“The bank has also cumulatively disbursed the sum of N108.65 billion to hospitals and pharmaceutical industry; 54 of the 117 projects funded are for hospital services.”