NDIC Puts Total Bank Depositors’ Funds at N17.3tn in 2015

•   CEO advocates reintroduction of National Savings Bank
  James Emejo in Abuja

The Managing Director/Chief Executive, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim has disclosed that the total deposit liabilities of all the deposit money banks (DMBs) in the country amounted to N17.3 trillion as at December 2015.

He also stated that of the total amount, which had 67 million depositors tied to it, the corporation had provided over 90 percent of insurance coverage.

Speaking in Jos, during a lecture titled: “NDIC and Engendering Confidence in the Financial Services Sector for Poverty Reduction and Economic empowerment” which was organised for participants of Executive Course No 38, 2016 at National Institute for Policy & Strategic Studies Kuru, he also said a total of N165.5 billion which belonged to 8.4 million depositors of microfinance banks (MFBs) as well as N73.71 billion linked to 0.73 million depositors of primary mortgage banks (PMBs) were further covered by over 95 percent.

He noted that by these interventions, among others, the corporation had contributed to poverty reduction as it focused on deposit guarantee and protection of depositors’ interest.

Furthermore, the NDIC boss has hinted that the corporation is currently considering the introduction of electronic deposit payment system to facilitate depositor payout within the shortest possible time.

The NDIC boss also suggested the re-establishment of Nigeria Savings Bank to expand the frontiers banking system in the country.

He said the desire to effectively use post offices and leveraging information and communication technology (ICT) to facilitate financial intermediation would not only mobilise savings but also give access to credits.

He drew the attention to Britain which in the last decade transformed its post offices into elegant avenues of harnessing savings and credits creation, adding: “Since we are talking of poverty alleviation, we can revisit the issue of National Savings Bank.”

Ibrahim however, noted that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Ministry of Communication had been discussing modalities for effective transformation of post offices so as to serve as banks’ agents.

In a statement signed by Head, Commnication and Public Affairs Department, NDIC, Alhaji Hadi Birchi, the NDIC chief executive reminded the participants that Deposit Insurance Scheme (DIS) was one of the critical components of Financial System Safety-Net arrangement and financial guarantee to depositors, particularly the small depositors in the event of a bank failure. He pointed out that any financial system that did not have a DIS could not be said to have a complete Financial Safety-Net arrangement.