Cross River – Over N1 billion has been recovered by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from farmers who benefitted from the bank’s loan under the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF) initiated by the CBN to aid the agric sector.
ACGSF Board chairman, Mr Peter Stephen Okon disclosed this in Calabar on Thursday while speaking at the stakeholders’ forum where awards of honour with cash and certificates were presented to the best farmer/ best participating financial institution (PFI) of the year 2021 under the ACGSF.
When giving a breakdown of the agricultural loan recovery by the CBN, Okon stated that about 10,635 loans valued at N1.65 billion were repaid under the scheme in Cross River State.
“These records speak volumes of the level of commitment of the officers in the state as well as determination of the farmers to utilize the opportunities offered by the scheme to empower themselves and improve their lot.
“We do hope that before long, farmers in your state will enjoy the benefits of the new Amended Act.”
The board chairman stressed that a total of 1, 224,795 loans valued at N129.084 billion were guaranteed from inception to February 2022.
He said, “It is worthy to note that Cross River State from January to February 2022 has guaranteed a total of 73 loan beneficiaries under the scheme, valued at N24.3 million.
“This brought the total guaranteed loans in Cross River State from inception of the scheme in 1978 to February 2022 to 18,406, valued at N2.305 billion.
“Under the new ACGSF Amendment Act 2019 the maximum for non-collateralized loan has increased from N20,000.00 to N100,000.00 and maximum for collateralized loan from N10 million to N50 million.”
In her remarks, branch controller, of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Calabar, Mrs Glory Iniuanam, called on the banks, state officials and other relevant agencies to continue to assist farmers through credit delivery and advisory services in order to help them develop their agricultural potentials to the fullest.
