The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said total credit allocated to the private sector by the banking industry in Q1 of 2021 stands at N62.28 trillion.
This is according to the NBS Selected Banking Sector Data for Q1 to Q4 2021 released in Abuja on Thursday.
The report said that the top three credit allocations went into the oil and gas industrial, manufacturing, and the general service sectors with N11.97 trillion (19.22 per cent), N9.82 trillion (15.77 per cent ), and N5.55 trillion (8.92 per cent).
It said similarly, in Q2 of 2021, total credit allocation increased by 5.64 per cent to N65.79 trillion.
The report said the Q3 2021 credit allocations to the private sector further increased by 2.33 per cent from the amount recorded in Q2 2021, showing a total of N67.33 trillion.
“Of this amount, allocation to the oil and gas industrial sector stand top at N12.32 trillion (18.29 per cent), followed by the manufacturing sector with N11.14 trillion (16.55 per cent) and the general service sector with N6.49 trillion (9.64 per cent),’’ the report said.
The NBS said N71.71 trillion was reported as credit allocation to the private sector in Q4 for 2021, indicating a growth rate of 6.52 per cent from Q3 2021.
“Again, the oil and gas industrial sector recorded the highest allocation with N12.48 trillion (17.40 per cent), followed by the manufacturing sector with N12.16 trillion (16.96 per cent) and the general service sector with N7.08 trillion (9.87 per cent ).’’
The report said in Q1 2021, 1.96 billion volume of e-payment transactions were recorded through ATM, POS, Internet, NEFT, RTGS, USSD, Mobile, and Direct Channels.
It said the volume of e-payment transactions in Q2 2021 increased by 13.11 per cent to 2.22 billion, while 2.43 billion was recorded in Q3 2021 showing a growth rate of 9.49 per cent.
“However, the volume of e-payment transactions decreased by 2.16 per cent to 2.38 billion in Q4 of 2021,”it added.
The report said in terms of values of e-payment transactions made, N238.87 trillion was recorded in Q1 2021 and N269.73 trillion in Q2 2021.
It further stated that in Q3 2021, the value of e-payment transactions was N269.82 trillion, indicating an increase of 0.03 per cent from Q2 2021, while N285.95 trillion was recorded in Q4 2021, showing a growth rate of 5.98 per cent.
The report said the staff strength of deposit money banks in Q1 2021 stood at 94,681, inclusive of executive, senior, junior, and contract staff. In Q2 2021, this decreased to 92,780 and further decreased to 92,699 in Q3 2021.
“However, Q4 2021 recorded a staff strength of 93,090, indicating an increase of 0.42 per cent from Q3 2 021.
Gaming, Gambling Addiction, A Growing Societal Burden Needing Urgent Attention