The amount of money kept outside of Nigeria’s banking system fell to N3.66 trillion in July, a decrease of roughly 3.32 percent from the previous month.
This was revealed in the Money and Credit data that is accessible on the Central Bank of Nigeria’s website.
This indicated that the percentage of currency in circulation outside of banks fell from 93.59% in June 2024 to 90.39 percent.
In July, the value of money in circulation increased from N4.04tn to N4.05tn.
From the beginning of the year, the amount of money in circulation rose by 11.05 per cent compared to 56.17 per cent rise in the same period in 2023.
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee members have attributed the nation’s rising inflation to an overabundance of cash in circulation.
Additionally, in July 2024, the money supply (M3)—a broad indicator of the total amount of money in an economy—reached a peak of N106.27 trillion due to CBN tightening measures.
To try to control inflation, the top bank has continued to take a hawkish position.
The CBN increased the MPR by 50 basis points to 26.75 percent from 26.25 percent in June 2024 at the Monetary Policy Committee’s most recent meeting in July 2024.
In the meantime, credit to the private sector kept growing, reaching N75.48 trillion in July 2024 on an annual basis. Bank credit to the private sector grew by 3.13 percent month over month from N73.19 trillion in June 2024.
