From Uche Usim, Abuja
As Nigeria’s economy braces up for its litany of challenges including high level of non-performing loans, corporate governance and revenue slump, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has tasked the new board of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) to close ranks to tackle these bottle- necks.
She gave the charge in Abuja, while inaugurating the NDIC board on Thursday.
The minister noted that a lot was being expected from the board members in terms of contributions to the stability of the Nigerian Financial System.
She reminded the board to look into Financial Technology (Fintech) and block chain technology space, being niche areas with potential benefits and risks. “These and other challenges can cause threats to the stability of our financial system and must be addressed promptly for the sector to play its role in facilitating the implementation of the National Development Plan 2021 to 2025”, she added.
The Minister charged the board to collaborate with the management to design policies and programmes to enable the Corporation deliver on its mandate.
Ahmed reminded the board that the mandate of the Corporation is to provide financial guarantee to depositors of insured banks in the event of failure, supervision of insured banks, distress resolution and liquidation of failed banks.
“The Corporation is there- fore the only Agency responsible for administering Deposit Insurance Scheme (DIS) in Nigeria and provides financial guarantee to depositors of all deposit taking financial institutions thereby promoting public confidence in the banking system. The Scheme is designed to provide a further layer of protection to depositors’ in partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in order to ensure safe and sound banking practices in Nigeria.