The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has made the consolidated financial statements for the previous seven years accessible for public inspection, marking the first time since 2015 that the top bank has done so.
The CBN published Consolidated Financial Statements for the fiscal years 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.
The CBN reported an after-tax profit of N103.8 billion in 2022, up from N75.13 billion the previous year.
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In addition, as of the fiscal year that concluded in December 2022, the CBN owed JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs a total $7.5 billion.
Included as part of its liabilities is another $6.3bn owned in foreign currency forwards.
The apex bank, however, stated it owes Goldman Sachs $500 million and JP Morgan $7 billion in what it classified as securities lending.
The 2022 financial statement read, “The Group entered into a securities lending agreement with Goldman Sachs and J. P. Morgan and as part of the agreement, the Group pledged its holdings on foreign securities in return for cash. The cash received from Goldman Sachs is N0.23tn ($500m), 2021: N0.22tn ($500m), and JP Morgan N3.23tn ($7bn), 2021: N3.05tn ($7bn) is recognised in other foreign securities.”
Securities lending forms part of the CBN’s total external reserves of about N14.3tn or $29bn using the official exchange rate of N494/$1 as of 2022.
However, the apex bank also owes another N3.15tn ($6.3bn) in foreign currency forward which are forex obligations it needs to make to foreign investors.
The financial statements uploaded on the CBN website is an indication that the apex bank, under the leadership of acting Governor Folashodun Shonubi, is ready to open its book to public scrutiny.
