Currency in circulation drops by 235.03% to N982bn in February from N3.29tn – CBN

Nigeria’s Currency in circulation (CIC) in Nigeria dipped by 235.03 per cent to 982.09 billion at the end of February 2023 from 3.29 trillion announced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in October 2022 on the heels of the Naira redesign policy.

The latest figures from the apex bank showed that 2.3 trillion had been withdrawn from circulation from October 2022 to February 2023.

One of the justifications CBN gave for its cashless Policy implementation was because of too much cash in circulation, which led to the redesigning of N200, N500, and N1000.

The policy implementation resulted in acute naira scarcity and prolonged hardship for Nigerians, not until back-peddled by authorizing the use of the old notes in line with the Supreme Court’s ruling validating its acceptance till December 31.

According to the CBN, the currency in circulation moved from N3.16tn to N3.29tn and N1.38tn in November 2022, December 2022 and January 2023, respectively.

In perspective, currency-in-circulation is defined as currency outside the central bank’s vaults; that is, all legal tender currency in the hands of the public and in the vaults of the Deposit Money Banks (DMBs).