The total quantity of currency in circulation in the country decreased from N2.6tn (N2,603,266m) at the end of June 2023 to N2.59tn (N2,595,761m) at the end of July 2023.
The Punch reported that since February 2023, this is the first time the number has decreased.
According to data received from the Nigerian Central Bank, this indicates a loss of N7.51 billion in just one month.
The central bank stated that, “cash in circulation” is defined as cash that is not kept in the central bank’s vaults. This includes all legal tender cash held by members of the public and kept in the vaults of deposit money institutions.
According to the CBN, it used the “accounting/statistical/withdrawals and deposits approach” to determine the amount of money in circulation in Nigeria.
With this strategy, every transaction-by-transaction surveillance of the movement of money in circulation was done.
According to the statement, a rise in the CIC was recorded for each withdrawal a DMB made at a branch of the CBN, and a decrease in the CIC was recorded for each deposit.
The CBN’s CIC account keeps track of all the transactions, and the balance there at any given time is an accurate representation of the amount of the nation’s currency in circulation.
Due to the CBN’s naira redesign policy, the total amount of currency in circulation in the nation decreased from N3.29 trillion at the end of October 2022 to N1.38 trillion at the end of January 2023 before January 2023.
According to data received from the CBN, this implies a decrease of N1.91 trillion over the past three months.
The CBN’s suspended Governor, Godwin Emefiele, has announced plans to revamp the outdated N200, N500, and N1,000 notes in October 2022.
Emefiele also gave Nigerians timelines for exchanging their old notes for new ones.
“Accordingly, all Deposit Money Banks currently holding the existing denominations of currency may begin returning these notes back to the CBN with immediate effect,” the suspended governor added. First-come, first served will determine the order in which the freshly created currency is released to the banks.
“Customers of banks are urged to start depositing existing currency into their accounts so they can withdraw the new banknotes once circulation starts.”
Customers of banks are urged to start depositing existing currency into their accounts so they can withdraw the new banknotes once circulation starts.
He emphasized the difficulties in managing currency, particularly the large hoarding of banknotes by the general population and statistics showing that more than 80% of the currency in circulation was not kept in commercial banks’ vaults.
