Zenith Bank plans to raise retail loans to four percent in 2019—Amangbo
Leading Tier 1 financial giant, Zenith Bank Plc has given fresh indication that it is planning to up its retail loans as a percentage of total credit to about four per cent this year from less than one per cent in 2018.
Explaining more in an interview with a foreign media in Lagos, Managing Director of the bank, Mr Peter Amangbo noted that the drive will be made possible via making a bigger push into personal loans, car financing and mortgages.
According to him, “There is a lot we’re doing on revenue,” stressing that “We expect our retail franchise to grow. Our electronic business, our digital banking is growing.”
He observed that the new direction is driven by weak activities in the oil sector which has displayed negative shift to about 30 per cent in oil prices since October.
Analysts had argued that the observed drop in global oil price is frustrating Nigeria’s main export and foreign-currency earner, thus collapsing demand for funding.
Though Zenith Bank may had missed its 2018 target “We are working on probably achieving loan growth of two per cent to five per cent in 2019,” the CEO assured.
Business Hilights recalls that customer loans declined by eight per cent in the nine months through September to N2 trillion.
