Nigeria’s money supply has declined to approximately ₦118 trillion in September 2025, driven by a 5% drop in banks’ credit to the economy.
According to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Money and Credit Statistics Data for September 2025, this decline reflects the impact of the CBN’s aggressive monetary tightening stance aimed at reining in inflation, which has remained in double digits despite several rounds of interest rate hikes.
The CBN has raised the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by over 800 basis points since mid-2023, tightening liquidity across the banking sector.
This move has led to a 2.1% month-on-month decline in credit to the economy, which fell to ₦96.7 trillion in September from ₦98.8 trillion in August.
Several components of the money supply also recorded declines, including:
- Narrow Money (M¹): 0.76% decrease to ₦39.1 trillion in September from ₦39.4 trillion in August
- Quasi Money: 1.99% decrease to ₦78.7 trillion in September from ₦80.3 trillion in August
- Demand Deposits: 0.86% decrease to ₦34.6 trillion in September from ₦34.9 trillion in August
However, Currency Outside Banks (COB) rose slightly by 0.45% to ₦4.47 trillion in September from ₦4.45 trillion in August.
The decline in money supply is also attributed to a 4.4% month-on-month decline in banks’ credit to the private sector, which fell to ₦72.5 trillion in September from ₦75.9 trillion in August. Conversely, credit to the government increased by 5.67% to ₦24.2 trillion in September from ₦22.9 trillion in August.
