DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) – Tanzania’s central bank has transferred the assets and liabilities of Bank M to Azania Bank, Deputy Governor Bernard Kibesse said on Tuesday.

The Bank of Tanzania took over the management of Bank M in August saying it had critical liquidity problems and was unable to meet its obligations.

“After acquiring the assets and liabilities of Bank M, Azania Bank will now have a capital of 164 billion Tanzanian shillings ($71.46 million), which is way above the minimum capital requirement of 15 billion shillings,” Kibesse told a news conference.

At the time it was put under administration, Bank M had an asset base of 1 trillion shillings.

“Bank M failed to meet liquidity requirements and could not meet its maturing obligations, hence the decision by the central bank to put the bank under administration,” Kibesse said.

Tanzania’s financial services sector is dominated by lenders such as CRDB Bank and NMB Bank.

In December, the International Monetary Fund said nearly half of Tanzania’s 45 banks were vulnerable to adverse shocks and risk insolvency in the event of a global financial crisis.

($1 = 2,295.0000 Tanzanian shillings)

Reporting by Fumbuka Ng’wanakilala; writing by George Obulutsa; editing by Jason Neely