Survey Shows Stronger Credit Flows as Banks Expand Lending to Households, Businesses

Nume Ekeghe

A survey by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revealed that deposit money banks accelerated credit expansion in the third quarter of 2025, with lenders reporting stronger loan availability and rising demand across secured, unsecured and corporate segments. 

The CBN in its Credit Conditions Survey (CCS) posted on its official website highlighted a more supportive financing environment as economic sentiment improves, loan approvals increase and businesses gain broader access to working capital and investment funding.

The data point to a positive shift in credit conditions: lenders widened access to credit, borrower demand strengthened across most categories, and banks signalled greater confidence in underwriting new loans despite pockets of rising risk. 

However, the report showed that while mortgage and credit-card demand softened. The overall credit climate, it added, reflects renewed momentum in lending activities offering relief for households seeking financing and firms looking to scale operations.

“Household lending spreads widened modestly, while corporate loan pricing moved in mixed directions. Default rates improved for secured loans, even though unsecured and corporate segments recorded higher delinquencies, suggesting that the recovery in credit quality remains uneven. Lenders reported increased credit availability for Secured, Unsecured and Corporate lending in Q3 2025.

“The demand for credit increased for Secured, Unsecured and Corporate lending. The overall spreads on Secured and Unsecured lending rates to households relative to Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) widened in Q3 2025. For Corporate lending, spreads on loan relative to MPR for Medium Private Non-financial Corporations (PNFCs) and Other Financial Corporations (OFCs) lending narrowed while that of Small business and Large PNFCs widened in the review quarter. Lenders reported lower default rates for Secured lending, while Unsecured and Corporate lending of all business types recorded higher default rates,” it said.
 
 
It added, “Lenders reported increased credit availability in Q3 2025 for secured, unsecured and corporate lending. The increase in credit availability was attributed to the changing economic outlooks for secured and corporate lending, while changing appetite for risk was the main factor that influenced unsecured credit availability
 
“Respondents reported that the demand for credit increased for Secured, Unsecured and Corporate lending. All the demand for lending types reportedly increased in Q3 2025, except for demand for secured Mortgage/re-mortgage lending and Unsecured credit cards lending to households which decreased.”
On pricing, the report said spreads on secured and unsecured lending to households relative to the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) widened to -0.1 and -1.8 index points, respectively.

“Among corporates, spreads narrowed for Medium Private Non-Financial Corporations (PNFCs) and Other Financial Corporations (OFCs), at 2.6 and 14.4 index points, while widening slightly for Small Businesses and Large PNFCs at -0.8 and -0.4 index points.

“Overall, the Q3 findings suggest a more accommodative credit environment, with banks increasingly willing to extend financing, demand rebounding across key segments and repayment performance improving in secured portfolios an encouraging signal for households and businesses seeking liquidity to support consumption, expansion and investment,” the report said.