Currency in circulation hits N3.25trn — highest since December 2021

Nigeria’s currency in circulation climbed to N3.25 trillion in March 2022, representing the highest since December 2021. 

Currency in circulation (CIC) is the amount of cash in paper notes or coins issued by the apex bank to conduct transactions.

According to the latest data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the figure rose by 16 per cent from N2.79 trillion in April 2021 to N3.25 trillion in March 2022.

In May 2021, currency in circulation stood at N2.79 trillion, N2.74 trillion in June and up to N2.81 trillion in July.

In August, September and October 2021, it was N2.78 trillion, N2.84 trillion, and N2.97 trillion, respectively.

Currency in circulation hits the historical N3trillion mark in November 2021 as banks customers withdraw physical cash amid the festive period.

In November, it crossed the N3 trillion mark ahead of the festive season in December. By December, it peaked at a record N3.33 trillion.

In 2022, it amounted to N3.29 trillion in January and N3.25 trillion in February.

Last year, the apex bank said its clean note policy and banknote fitness guidelines provide that every newly printed and existing banknote should measure up to predefined standards before circulation and re-circulation in the economy.

The CBN said it used the “accounting/statistical/withdrawals and deposits approach” to compute the currency in circulation in the country.

It said this approach involved tracking the fluctuations in currency in circulation on a transaction-by-transaction basis.

According to the CBN, for every withdrawal made by a deposit money bank (DMB) at any CBN branch, an increase in currency in circulation (CIC) is recorded; and for every deposit made by a DMB at one of CBN’s branches, a decrease in CIC is recorded.

The transactions are all recorded in the CBN’s CIC account, and the balance on the account at any point in time represented the country’s currency in circulation.