Banks credit to transport sector now N503.95m – NBS

The total value of credit allocated by the banking sector to the transportation and storage sector stood at N503.95m in the third quarter of 2020.

According to data obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics, the sector which was under services experienced a 2.5 per cent quarter-on-quarter growth rate in Q3.

Checks by our correspondent showed that the growth rate of transportation and the storage sector was stable and without any improvement as the sector recorded a similar 2.5 per cent in the second quarter.

Similarly, the sector recorded N46.99bn as Non-Performing Loans in the third quarter of 2020 compared to N37.04bn in the second quarter.

This represented a 26.87 per cent change in the quarterly sectoral change in NPLs.

According to the executive summary of the report, oil and gas were the biggest beneficiaries of the private sector credit.

The report read in part, “In terms of credit to the private sector, the total value of credit allocated by the banks stood at N19.87tn as of Q3 2020.

“Oil and gas and manufacturing sectors got credit allocation of N3.74tn and N3.03tn to record the highest credit allocation as at the period under review.”

The Gross Domestic Product report released by the National Bureau of Statistics for the third quarter of 2020 demonstrated how the transportation and storage sector experienced a growth of -35.06 per cent in nominal terms (year-on-year).

According to the report, the growth rate in Q3 was slightly better than the preceding quarter which saw a contraction of 41.63 per cent.

In a recent interview with The PUNCH, safety and environment consultant, Patrick Adenusi, noted that due to the poor regulation of the transport sector, commuters would pay more for transport.