Prof. Soludo, the CBN Chief in a conference today, said some very important things:

• Nigeria cannot afford to bail out any bank in the event of failure
• Banks have over $5billion (N784billion) in bad loans on book
• No plan for a US-styled stimulus

Here are some excerpts:

Nigeria, sub-Saharan Africa’s second- largest economy, can’t afford a bailout for its banks in the event of a failure, central bank Governor Chukwuma Soludo said.

“If our banks were to falter, as a country we can’t even afford a bailout,” Soludo said at a conference today in Abuja. He also ruled out a U.S.-style spending package to boost growth.

“You do a stimulus if you can afford it,” Soludo said at a conference today in Abuja, referring to the ability of the U.S. to help companies hurt by the global crisis. “That’s part of the unfairness of the global system.”

Banks in Africa’s top oil producer had bad loans of 784 billion naira ($5.3 billion) in January, according to Soludo. In the past, the central bank has said bad loans are not enough to threaten the lenders.