In a notable financial development, the amount of currency held outside banks, known as CoB (Currency Outside Banks), experienced a substantial month-on-month increase of N90 billion or 4.09 percent, reaching a total of N2.29 trillion in August, up from N2.2 trillion in July 2023.
The consistent upward trend in CoB has been observed since March and is attributed to the implementation of a Supreme Court order allowing the continued circulation of old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes until December 31, 2023.
Additionally, the latest data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Money and Credit for August reveals that Currency-In-Circulation (CIC) now stands at N2.66 trillion, marking a 2.7 percent increase compared to N2.59 trillion in July 2023.
It’s worth noting that the CBN’s move to redesign the Naira and withdraw old banknotes had led to the absorption of approximately N1.81 trillion from CoB, resulting in a significant drop in Currency-in-Circulation, which plummeted to N1.4 trillion in January 2023.
Meanwhile, credit extended by banks to the government increased slightly by 0.62 percent, rising from N32.3 trillion in July to N32.5 trillion in August.
Furthermore, data from the CBN’s Money and Credit Statistics reveals that credit extended to the private sector also saw growth, with a 1.1 percent increase, reaching N54.7 trillion from N54.1 trillion.
These developments combined to produce a 0.92 percent rise in net domestic credit, which reached N87.3 trillion in August, up from N86.5 trillion in July.
