Fakoyejo Olalekan
The Senior Manager, Development Finance Office of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Celsus Agla, has revealed that the regulator will forcefully deduct money from debtors under the Anchor Borrower Programme (ABP).
Agla, during a meeting with maize farmers and other stakeholders on Thursday, said some farmers who requested for Anchor loan have failed to meet their debt obligation.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe CBN manager explained that the financial regulator is finding it difficult to recover the Anchor debt, as some farmers believe the loan is a grant that doesn’t need repayment.
It was gathered that the central bank might have to apply the Global Standing Instruction (GSI) that empowers banks to deep their hands in accounts owned by the farmers, and deduct the debt owed.
Aglo explained that the “GSI is a system whereby if you have an account with any bank outside say Unity Bank and there’s money in that account; because your BVN is attached to these loans if the GSI is triggered, the monies in those accounts can be collected to repay the loan to Unity Bank.”
Despite the CBN considering the direct deduction, Aglo said it will be a last resort, but disclosed that some efforts to make the farmers pay their debt have failed.
“The GSI shall serve as a last resort by a creditor bank, without recourse to the borrower, to recover past due obligations (principal and Accrued Interest only, excluding any penal charges) from a defaulting borrower through a direct set-off from deposits, investments held in the borrower’s qualifying bank accounts with participating financial institutions.” Aglo stated.
