Nigeria’s appetite for cash intensified in October as Currency Outside Banks (COB) climbed for the second consecutive month to N4.65 trillion, signalling a renewed scramble for physical cash across households and businesses despite ongoing monetary tightening by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
According to the latest Money and Credit Statistics obtained from the apex bank, COB rose by 4.07 per cent in October, adding N181.71 billion to the N4.47 trillion recorded in September.
The uptick follows a modest increase of N14.73 billion in September, after the indicator shed N43.44 billion between June and August. The CBN data showed that cash outside banking vaults stood at N4.49 trillion in June, N4.63 trillion in May, N4.56 trillion in April, and N4.52 trillion in February.
The figure had stood at N4.72 trillion in January, declining from N5.13 trillion in December 2024. Similarly, Currency in Circulation (CIC) rose, hitting N5.06 trillion in October — a 2.12 per cent rise from N4.95 trillion in September.
This represents a month-on-month increase of N107.95 billion. CIC had earlier grown by N29.57 billion in September after a cumulative decline of N78.16 billion between June and August.
