CBN’s income triples despite economic crisis

Despite the economic crisis bedevilling the economy, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) successfully improved its income in the 2015 fiscal year in three folds, compared with the previous year’s.

In 2015, Nigeria had its worst economic growth rate in 16 years but the CBN continues to thrive, growing its income to new highs.

In its 2015 consolidated and separate financial statements, the CBN posted a net income of N108.530 billion, surging from N35.422 billion in 2014.

The bank, which recorded a 206.4 percent rise in its net income, said it will remit 80 percent of the income to the federal government, following the provisions of the fiscal responsibility act.

The report, which was audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) and Ernst and Young (EY), revealed that the bank gained N56.6 billion in foreign exchange revaluation, as against N26.1 billion in 2015.

Vouching for the report, PWC and EY, said: “We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion.”

The audit firms then gave their opinion of the fiscal year results, saying the bank’s financial statement shows the true financial position of the bank.

“In our opinion, the accompanying consolidated and separate financial statements give a true and fair view of the financial position of the bank and the Group as at 31 December 2015,” PWC and EY said in a joint statement.

Corroborating CBN’s stance that the statements were prepared in accordance to the requirements of the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS), the firms said:

“Financial performance and cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standard and the provisions of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act No 7, 2007.”

Most of the interest earned by the apex bank came from the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria’s (AMCON) Notes, through which it generated N363.31 million. This was higher than the N323.95 million generated in 2014.

The report also revealed that the CBN holds 100 percent of the share capital in Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk-Sharing System for Agricultural Lending Plc (NIRSAL) and 99.99 percent Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry Stabilization Strategy Limited (NESI).