CBN ‘ll Work With NDIC To Navigate Economic Uncertainties- Cardoso

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said it will join forces with the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) to protect the financial system by leveraging modern leveraging modern tools for financial stability.

The apex bank governor, Olayemi Cardoso said this during a courtesy visit by the newly appointed Management of the NDIC, led by the Managing Director/Chief Executive, Mr. Thompson Sunday at the CBN Headquarters in Abuja.

Sunday was newly appointed as the new Managing Director and the Executive Director Operations NDIC by President Bola Tinubu.

“Our meeting today is a clear testament to our willingness to work together. The CBN counts on NDIC’s support in navigating the uncertain times that we are in”, said Cardoso.

While congratulating the new NDIC management, the apex bank boss reiterated that the visit underscored the shared commitment of both institutions to strengthen collaboration towards safeguarding Nigeria’s financial system.

The governor explained that his “two years in office have revealed critical lessons in the financial industry, requiring that the CBN and the NDIC proactively deal with potential shocks by leveraging modern tools for financial stability.”

He advocated for both institutions to collaborate in mitigating risks and ensuring depositor confidence.

Reacting, the NDIC MD, Mr. Sunday, commended the CBN for its reform programmes under the leadership of Mr. Cardoso, particularly the stabilization of the forex market as well as the ongoing recapitalization of Deposit Money Banks.

Sunday pledged that the NDIC was committed to aligning its operations with the NDIC Act 2023 (as amended).

He explained that the Corporation was in the process of embarking on a strategic restructuring to better align operations with its risk minimization mandate as well as developing a new corporate strategy as the one in use was due to expire at the end of the current year.

The NDIC boss reiterated the Corporation’s willingness to collaborate with the CBN towards enhancing financial system stability.

He further hailed the CBN’s support in premium collection from insured institutions.

He also outlined the Corporation’s recent milestones, to include the payment of N54.62bn to 691,418 depositors of the defunct Heritage Bank, and the declaration of a liquidation dividend of 9.2 kobo per Naira to uninsured depositors within a year of closure and the ongoing efforts to develop a target funding framework.

The NDIC Chief Executive also listed some challenges facing the Corporation to include the absence of a unique identifier such as the Bank Verification Number (BVN) for corporate customers and the difficulty in collecting premiums from insured institutions that do not maintain accounts with the CBN.

Sunday expressed the willingness of the Corporation to work with the CBN to address these gaps.

The NDIC MD also appealed to the CBN to consider developing a joint crisis preparedness framework with the Corporation towards enhancing crisis management.

CBN ‘ll Work With NDIC To Navigate Economic Uncertainties- Cardoso is first published on The Whistler Newspaper