The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has published a detailed breakdown of current savings and lending rates across Nigerian banks, providing individuals, businesses, and investors with critical insight into the cost of credit and returns on savings in the country’s tightening monetary environment.
According to the data released by the apex bank, the disclosure aims to deepen transparency on financial terms offered by Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), enabling Nigerians to make better-informed financial decisions.
Savings Deposit Rates: What Banks Are Offering
Savings rates represent the interest banks pay customers for keeping their money with them. Amid monetary policy tightening and rising inflation, many banks have adjusted their savings rates upward.
Top Savings Rates (%) include:
- SunTrust Bank – 8.30%
- Access Bank, Fidelity Bank, First Bank, Zenith Bank, UBA, Sterling Bank, Unity Bank – 8.25%
- GTBank, NOVA Bank – 8.00%
- Ecobank – 5.90%
- Stanbic IBTC – 2.75%
- FCMB – 1.15%
These figures indicate that depositors now have opportunities to earn better interest on their savings, offering some cushion against inflation.
Lending Rates: A Mixed Bag for Borrowers
On the lending side, the CBN’s data show significant variations between prime lending rates—offered to borrowers with top credit profiles—and maximum lending rates, which represent the highest interest charged.
Notable Lending Rates (%) include:
- Ecobank: Maximum Lending Rate – 48.00%
- FCMB: Maximum Lending Rate – 46.00%
- Parallax Bank: Maximum Lending Rate – 42.00%
- UBA: Prime – 32.00%, Maximum – 40.00%
- GTBank: Prime – 28.50%, Maximum – 35.00%
- Zenith Bank: Prime – 25.40%, Maximum – 35.00%
- Titan Trust Bank: Lowest Prime Lending Rate – 10.00%
These figures underscore the rising cost of credit, particularly for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and individuals without strong credit profiles.
Banks Earn N14 Trillion from Lending in 2024
CBN data also show that nine leading Nigerian banks earned a staggering N14.26 trillion in interest income in 2024, almost double their earnings in 2023. This growth was driven by the CBN’s aggressive monetary tightening, which pushed the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) to as high as 35%.
While this has boosted bank profitability, it has also raised borrowing costs, affecting manufacturers, small businesses, and informal traders.
What This Means for MSMEs
For Nigeria’s MSMEs, the published rates highlight a mixed outlook:
✅ Savings: Many banks now offer competitive savings rates (up to 8.25%), helping businesses protect deposits from inflation.
❌ Loans: Accessing capital remains difficult and costly, with lending rates often exceeding 30%, which can stifle business growth, delay expansion, and limit job creation.
The CBN’s publication, while highlighting opportunities for savers, also underscores the urgent challenges facing borrowers in an economy grappling with high interest rates and inflation.
