CBN warns against borrowing money from loan sharks

By Seun Ibiyemi

The Central Bank of Nigeria has stated that individuals in need of funds don’t need to know anybody to collect loans from banks, and should desist from borrowing from loan sharks.

This was disclosed by the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele at the first MPC meeting of 2022.

The apex bank governor expressed his displeasure in the way loan sharks handle customers who default.

To access a loan for your business, the Central Bank Governor stated that, “You don’t need to know anybody, just go into the portal, fill the form, send your data. If your data is correct you would be able to access loans.”

He added, “We have a large number of testimony of people accessing loan cavity without knowing anybody and they have benefited from it.”

The CBN Governor cautioned the public saying, “If you go to a loan shark to borrow you would pay two or three times the amount in 90 days. When you refuse to pay they would seize your property; Bicycle or television just to collet N200,000.”

He stated that he can only advise the public to abandon sure informal lending and chase formal leading from regulated institutions.

He said, “We can only continue to advise that you don’t need to go to loan sharks because the CBN through MFB has aided the establishment of multiple businesses.”

He also stated that regulating them is a challenge since they are mostly in the rural areas and are unregistered, moreover, the CBN is not a law enforcement agency like the police.