The aggressive interest rate hikes implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have begun to bite, dragging the pace of lending to the private sector down to its lowest level in five years.
Data from the CBN show that growth in Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) credit to the private sector declined sharply to 0.89 percent in 2025, down from 44.29 percent in 2024 and 33.98 percent in 2023. This represents the weakest growth rate since 2020, compared with 18.59 percent recorded in 2022 and 13.07 percent in 2021.
The slowdown is largely linked
