By Ada Jacobs
President Muhammadu Buhari has signed the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 2020 into law, which the federal government believes will spur growth and development in the financial sector and the nation’s economy as a whole.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, disclosed on Friday in a statement titled “President Buhari assents to Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 2020,″ that president has assented to the legislation passed a few months ago by the National Assembly.
The new law, Shehu stated, has now repealed the extant Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 1991 as amended, noting that the capacity of banks to support the real sector of the economy has now been expanded.
According to the statement “The BOFI Act 2020 updates the enabling law in response to developments and significant evolution in the financial sector over the last two decades.
“It will increase the appetite of banks and other financial institutions to channel much-needed credit to the real sector to support economic recovery and promote sustainable growth.
“In this respect, it introduces a credit tribunal to improve loan recovery and address the incidence of high non-performing loans within the financial system, which has been a key deterrent to lending by financial institutions.
“Furthermore, it strengthens the regulatory and supervisory framework for the financial industry and provides additional tools for managing failing institutions and systemic distress to preserve financial stability amongst others.
The Central Bank of Nigeria will hold structured engagements with stakeholders across various sectors of the economy on critical aspects of the Act in the coming months.
“This enactment of the BOFI Act 2020 is a historic and significant achievement, which is indicative of effective and productive collaboration between the Executive and Legislature arms of government.”