The Central Bank of Nigeria has ordered regional banks to operate for one additional geo-political zones within six months.

It state this in a circular released on Thursday on, “Expansion of the scope of regional banks in Nigeria,” which was signed by the Financial Policy and Regulation Department, CBN, Kelvin Amugo.

The circular read, “The Central Bank of Nigeria, pursuant to Section 8 (g) of the CBN scope, condition and minimum standards for commercial banks regulation No. (1) 2010 as revised on September 4, 2019, and in furtherance of its objective to promote financial inclusion, hereby prescribes additional requirements for licensed regional banks (commercial and non-interest).

“Effective from the date this circular, all banks with regional authorisation shall be required to operate from one additional geo-political zone as may be prescribed for each institution by the CBN, without prejudice to the existing requirement of minimum of two geo-political zones of the federation.

“The essence is to promote spread and balance of regional banks across the country.

“The compliance timeline to establish operational footprint at the advised zone shall not exceed six months from the issuance of the regulatory advice to each regional bank by the CBN.”