NIGERIA CBN releases audited financials

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), at the weekend, formally released its audited financial statements for 2013 and 2014, which it had prepared in line with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

The two financial statements posted on its website (HYPERLINK “http://www.cbn.gov.ng” www.cbn.gov.ng) had been approved by its board in accordance with the provisions of the CBN Act 2007.
The IFRS, one of the frameworks internationally recognised and accepted, mandates adopters of the framework to prepare consolidated financial statements.
The released financial statements made available to Daily Sun, indicate that the net income of the bank for 2013 amounted to N209.6 billion while that of 2014 was N35.4 billion, totaling N245 billion, out of which 80 per cent has since been remitted to the Federal Government in accordance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act. The balance of 20 per cent was also transferred to the Reserves within the bank.
The IFRS requirement implies that the financial statement of CBN be consolidated with those of investee entities, namely Nigeria Export-Import Bank, Abuja Securities and Commodities Exchange, Bank of Industry, Bank of Agriculture, Nigeria Interbank Settlement System, National Economic Reconstruction Fund, Financial Markets Dealers Quotation, African Finance Corporation and Agricultural Credit Guarantee Fund.

Thus, the bank now has full IFRS-compliant financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2013 and December 31, 2014, respectively. Hitherto, its financial statements had been prepared under the CBN framework.Meanwhile, the adoption of IFRS by the CBN or any central bank the world over is not without difficulties in view of a number of challenges that include the non-profit-oriented mandates of central banks in their roles of price and financial system stability and economic growth that could be contradicted by the application of some of these IFRS standards, which are for direct profit-motivated commercial entities.Another challenge is the statutory constraints on the central banks. This explains why very few central banks have adopted the IFRS. Many of the central banks, which claim IFRS adoption, did so partially within statutory constraints. But the CBN was, however, able to work around these challenges to conclude a successful adoption of the IFRS. It is worthy of note that the CBN has been able to conclude IFRS adoption within a period of two years as global experience indicated that many of the IFRS adopting central or reserve banks took longer periods of time to conclude IFRS adoption.