Nigerian banks increased the supply of secured, unsecured, and corporate loans in the second quarter of 2026, while loan default rates declined across all lending categories, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria‘s (CBN)’s latest survey.
CBN, in its 2026 Q2 Credit Conditions Survey, released on Wednesday, revealed that demand for corporate and secured loans increased during the period.
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According to CBN, the survey results are based on weighted responses from lenders, with greater weight assigned to banks reporting more significant changes and to institutions with larger credit market shares.
The regulator said the results were analysed by calculating net percentage balances, that is, the difference between the weighted balances of lenders reporting that demand was higher versus those reporting that demand was lower.
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Survey findings
The survey showed that lenders expanded credit availability for secured (-24.2), unsecured (-10.5), and corporate lending (-20.4), while demand for credit also increased for secured (15.1) and corporate loans (15.2), but declined slightly for unsecured lending (-1.2).
The CBN attributed the increase in secured lending to improved economic outlook, liquidity conditions and banks’ market share objectives.
Increased availability of funds and market share considerations drove unsecured lending, while tighter wholesale funding conditions, improving economic outlook and changing sector-specific risks supported corporate credit.
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The demand for corporate loans was mainly driven by balance sheet restructuring (24.0), capital investment (17.0) and inventory finance (12.9).
READ ALSO: Currency in circulation rose to N5.73 trillion as FX inflows hit $109.86bn in 2025 – CBN
The survey further showed that the spread between unsecured lending rates and the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) narrowed to 7.8 index points, while the spread on secured lending widened to -4.5 index points.
For corporate lending, spreads narrowed for Other Financial Corporations (14.0), medium private non-financial corporations (5.0) and large private non-financial corporations (4.7), but widened for small businesses (-3.8).
The lenders also reported lower default rates across secured (36.2), unsecured (9.7) and corporate lending, including small businesses (14.9), medium private non-financial corporations (13.5), large private non-financial corporations (10.7) and Other Financial Corporations (5.9).
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