Despite the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) monetary policy tightening, Nigeria’s currency in circulation surged to an all-time high of N3.97 trillion in May 2024, resulting in a N314.6 billion increase year-to-date (YtD), according to statistics obtained from the CBN website.
This represents an increase of N42.15 billion or 1.07 per cent Month-on-Month (MoM) from N3.92 trillion reported in April 2024, and N1.44 trillion or 56.93 per cent Year-on-Year (YoY) from N2.53 trillion reported May 2023.
Currency in circulation refers to 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.
In January 2024, at the height of the currency redesign policy of CBN, currency in circulation stood at N3.65 trillion and by February 2024, it increased to N3.69 trillion. According to CBN, currency in circulation stood at N3.87 trillion in March 2024, about 4.76 per cent MoM increase from N3.69 trillion in February 2024. It increased to the N3.9 trillion in April 2024 at N3.92 trillion, and before rising to N3.97 trillion in May 2024.
