An Assessment of the Solvency Status of Selected Nigerian Banks: A Multi Discriminant Analysis

Abstract

On July 6, 2004, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) required all the banks in the country to recapitalize from a minimum capital base of N2 billion to N25 billion. The banks were encouraged to consolidate through mergers and acquisition in order to meet up with the requirement. The primary objective of the recapitalization was to strengthen the financial sector and improve availability of domestic credit to the private sector. The prevailing dearth of long term funds, stunted growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), high cost of investible funds, high level of unemployment and inflation within the economy, seem to suggest that the dual event had no significant positive impact on the health status of the sector. It was against this background that this research work was conducted. The basic objective of the study was to investigate the impact of the recapitalization and consolidation on the solvency or health status of banks in the country. The method adopted for the study was Multi Discriminant Analysis (Altman’s Model and Enyi’s Relative Solvency Model). The study found that on the whole, the recapitalization and consolidation in the banking sector has not significantly improved the solvency status of the banking sector. The study recommended that the CBN continues with its regulatory roles but must strive to identify the problems contributing to the poor state of the banks even in the post consolidation period which many have identified as being external to the operations of the banks.

Keywords: Bank, Solvency, Recapitalization, Multi Discriminant Analysis, Consolidation