Market News

By Abdullateef Aliyu

Nigeria’s total currency in circulation rose by over one trillion naira in one year, hitting N5.007trillion in the first half of the year, marking a 25 per cent increase year-on-year (YoY) from N4.04 trillion recorded in June 2024, analysis of the money and credit statistics data for June released by the Central Bank of Nigeria has shown.

Though the data showed a decline from the month of May, the currency in circulation data has fluctuated since the beginning of the year.

But it has seen a steady rise since the beginning of the year as the data indicated.

Daily Trust reports that currency in circulation is the amount of cash–in the form of paper notes or coins–within a country that is physically used to conduct transactions between consumers and businesses.

It represents the money that has been issued by the country’s monetary authority, minus cash that has been removed from the system.

The rise in the currency in circulation represents the increased economic activities and spending by people and businesses.

According to the data, the currency in circulation has steadily grown from last year to what it is in the half of the year.

The last six months of 2024 saw the currency in circulation rising from N4.04 trillion to N5.4 trillion in December 2024. In July 2024, it grew to N4.05 trillion; N4.14 trillion in August and N4.31 trillion in September.

The figure for the last quarter of the year indicated that the CIC stood at N4.54 trillion in October; N4.87 trillion in November and N5.4 trillion in December.

The December figure represented the volume of cash movement in the financial sector during the Yuletide festivities.

However, the data dropped to N5.23 trillion in January; the first decline of the year while the decline continued in February, dropping to N5.03 trillion. In March the CIC stood at N5.00 trillion; N5.01 trillion in April. The CIC was virtually unchanged in May but dropped to 5.00 trillion in June.

Ayokunle Olubunmi of Augusto, speaking with our correspondent, had attributed the rise in currency in circulation to the increased revenues being shared by the three tiers of government.

“You would see that over the last two years, the amount that is being shared by the three tiers of government has actually increased. This is also supported by devaluation. You know that we are actually earning in naira, but the primary revenue is actually in dollars. An increase in crude oil production has also supported that.”

The current data on the CBN website also indicated that the currency outside the bank continues to drop, standing at N4.49 trillion as of June against N4.63 trillion in the previous month.