Nigeria bails out banks
The Nigerian government is considering a temporary nationalisation of some underperforming banks, according to the country's finance minister Mansur Muhtar. He talked about the possibility during a press conference in Istanbul, but emphasised that long-term nationalisation is not in the government's plans.
Nigeria announced it was rescuing four banks with US$1.37 billion in loans and support last Friday, 2 October 2009. The country's central bank governor Lamido Sanusi has finished a four-month long investigation into its banks in an attempt to rescue them after they ran up bad debts. He has fired at least eight chief executives, four of whom are now facing fraud charges.
Source: Panos London
