By Bassey Udo
A total of 20 commercial banks have fully met the new minimum capital requirements stipulated under the ongoing bank recapitalization programme, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Olayemi Cardoso, has confirmed.
The CBN governor who made the confirmation during the post-Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) media briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, said 13 other banks that have already reached advanced stages of their capital-raising processes were in the frame to conclude their recapitalization arrangements before the expiration of stipulated timeframe.
Cardoso, who said the banking sector recapitalisation programme was progressing steadily in accordance with the approved regulatory timetable ending on March 31, 2026, said the 13 banks were still finalising their strategies and assessing a variety of options they consider viable for realising their business objectives.
Some of the options, he said, include the consolidation of their potentials with other partners where suitable, as part of efforts to meet compliance within the remaining timeframe.
As of February 19, 2026, the CBN governor revealed that the total verified and approved capital raised so far by the banks under the recapitalization programme stood at about ₦4.05 trillion.
A breakdown of the figures, he said showed that about ₦2.90 trillion, or 71.67% was mobilised from domestic sources, while about $706.84 million, estimated at about ₦1.15 trillion, or 28.33%, came from investors abroad.
The CBN governor said the balanced mix between domestic and foreign investors in the banking sector was a reflection of the broad investor engagement with foreign interests and growing confidence to participate in the nation’s banking sector.
Cardoso also discussed the status of institutions currently under regulatory intervention, noting that specific legal and structural factors significantly influenced the order of recapitalisation measures for these banks.
He said the CBN remains actively engaged with relevant stakeholders to ensure orderly and credible outcomes, while maintaining financial stability of the economy.
In this context, he reassured stakeholders that depositor funds in those institutions remain secure and that their operations would continue under strict regulatory oversight by the sector regulating authority.
Based on the current pace of compliance and ongoing capital-raising activity, Cardoso expressed optimism that the financial market would see substantial alignment with the new capital requirements by the cut-off date.
“As CBN, we remain actively engaged with all relevant stakeholders to ensure that institutions currently under regulatory intervention have an orderly and credible outcome, while maintaining financial stability. Depositors’ funds in these institutions remain secure, and operations continue under close supervisory and regulatory oversight of the central bank,” he said
Under the CBN framework, the stipulated minimum capital thresholds include ₦500 billion for commercial banks with international authorisation, ₦200 billion for national authorisation, ₦50 billion for regional commercial banks, ₦50 billion for merchant banks, and ₦20 billion/₦10 billion for national/regional non-interest banks respectively.
Answering reporters’ questions during the briefing, Cardoso gave the nation’s gross foreign reserve as of the middle of February at about $50.4 billion, saying was the highest figure to be attained in the last 13 years.
He promised to provide detailed breakdown of the net foreign reserves figures soon to give a better sense of the performance over the past few years.
On the key drivers to the positive performance of the nation’s reserves, the CBN governor pointed at the positive signals the macro-economic indicators were being developed, which have resulted in favourable trade balances and a health current account surplus, with the growth of the non-oil exports.
The positive outcomes, he noted, was underpinned by growing market confidence as a result of keeping the promises made at international fora to economic actors over the period to maintain openness and transparency in the handling of the nation’s affairs.
On sustaining the momentum, the CBN governor said although there would always be risks, as no one can underestimate the potential global shocks, in terms the performance of crude oil prices and potential impact of pre-election spending and fiscal deficits, there was need to remain consistent with policy formulation and implementation.
With the current effort by the government to diversify the nation’s economic base, he said the trajectory the economy is currently on would be sustainable into the future.
On tackling inflation, which has declined to about 15.45% in January, the CBN governor said the apex bank would continue to do everything within its powers to protect the nation’s economy, saying that there are fragilities, appropriate measures would be adopted to protect the economy to strengthen its base.
He said the CBN was encouraged with the fact that it was able to bring down inflation from 34% at the inception of the present administration to the current level, saying most of the measures adopted, principally bordering on monetary policy tightening, though tough in many respects, have begun to pay off.
He expressed confidence if recent stability in the foreign exchange market was sustained, the level of decline in inflation experienced in recent times would continue, adding that there was need to maintain the existing balance between the fiscal and monetary policies.
Emphasizing the importance of maintaining discipline by all stakeholders in the economy, Cardoso said it was not the responsibility of the CBN alone, but the collective involvement all players working collaboratively to ensure that the gains are sustainable.
On building a resilient foreign exchange market, the CBN governor said the apex bank has been able to remove all the bottlenecks, ensured market efficiently and transparency, by allowing innovation, strengthening surveillance, and eliminating bad actors from the system as well as allowing all players know the rules and stick to them.
Eliminating multiple exchange rate windows and clearing the backlog of foreign exchange payments, he said, has established consistency over the past few months, adding that as long as these would continue, there would be regular accretion to the nation’s foreign reserves.
Meanwhile, during the MPC meeting, the CBN governor said members resolved to cut the controlling monetary policy rate, or lending rate by 50 basis points from 27 percent in November 2025 to 26.5 percent, while retaining the Standing Facilities Corridor around the MPR at +50/-450 basis points.
Also, the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) for Deposit Money Banks was retained at 45.00 percent, Merchant Banks at 16 percent, and 75 percent for non-TSA public sector deposits.
The CBN governor said the Committee’s decision was based on a balanced evaluation of risks to the outlook, considering the continuing disinflation trajectory, largely supported by sustained monetary policy tightening, foreign exchange rate stability, robust capital inflows, and improved balance of payments and enhanced food supply.
The Committee, Cardoso noted, took into account the sustained deceleration in year‑on‑year headline inflation in January 2026, marking the 11th consecutive month of decline.
Besides, he said the growth momentum was further reinforced by relative stability in the prices of petroleum products and improved food supply.
The MPC applauded the recent issuance of Presidential Executive Order 09 to redirect oil and gas revenues into the Federation Account, saying the potential impact in improving fiscal revenue and accretion to reserves was huge.
