The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria has said that it will not hesitate to take over any  distressed bank in the country.

According to the corporation, it is ready to take over any bank that has similar problems to what the three nationalised banks had.

The Managing Director, AMCON, Mr. Mustafa Chike-Obi,  also said in a statement made available to our correspondent that the three nationalised banks, Mainstreet Bank Limited, Keystone Bank Limited and Enterprise Bank Limited, would be  sold by 2013.

The AMCON boss said, “We injected N679bn into the three banks to bring them to the right capital adequacy levels and strengthen them to meet their obligations to depositors. We want to stabilise the banks before selling them within the next two years.

“So, far, our intervention in these banks has saved 14,000 jobs and will continue to add value to the economy. Our objective is to stabilise the banking system and bring these banks to a comfortable level where they will have enough funds to lend to the real sector of the economy.”

The AMCON boss further said that the N10bn combined statutory injections it got from the CBN and the Ministry of Finance were sufficient to fund its operations, adding that the corporation would not need more funds from the government as was being speculated.

He explained that recovery from non-performing loans, equity investments in nationalised banks and inflows from the banking sector resolution fund (sinking fund) were sufficient to aid its operations.

“We have received N5bn from the CBN and another N5bn from the Ministry of Finance. The possibility of the Federal Government spending more funds on AMCON remains very low,” he said.

He pointed out that after its intervention in the banks through the acquisition of over N3.1tn non-performing loans; their balance sheets had become cleaner and healthier than they had been in a long time.

Chike-Obi said that taking over the loans from the lending banks would stabilise the industry and remove the adverse implications of default on their liquidity.

“Of the 9,000 loans AMCON took over since December last year, 200 account for 80 per cent of the total value. The corporation has recovered over 15 per cent of the bad debts and aims to recoup 70 per cent,” he said.

The AMCON boss explained that the declining interest in the capital market was due to increasing confidence in government instrument and the high yields associated with them, saying, “For instance, Treasury Bills have a yield of about 15 per cent per annum, so are Federal Government bonds and these makes the stock market less attractive.”

Source: Punch/ Ademola Alawiye