Nigeria’s money supply hits N133.25tn despite tight monetary policy

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Nigeria’s broad money supply climbed to N133.25tn in June 2026, up from N129.21tn in May, despite the Central Bank of Nigeria maintaining a benchmark Monetary Policy Rate at 26.5 per cent.

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This underscores continued growth in liquidity even amid the country’s tight monetary policy stance. By implication, businesses and households had more money to spend and invest in June than in May.

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The data, released by the CBN on Wednesday, shows a N4.04tn month-on-month increase, signalling that liquidity in the economy continued to expand, driven mainly by higher domestic assets and growth in quasi-money.

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Broad money is a comprehensive measure of the total money supply in an economy. It includes physical cash and highly liquid “narrow money”, alongside less liquid assets such as savings accounts, time deposits, and money market funds that can be quickly converted into cash, according to Investopedia.

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Quasi-money, which consists largely of savings and time deposits, increased to N88.54tn from N84.58tn, while demand deposits edged higher to N39.78tn from N39.43tn.

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Meanwhile, currency held outside the banking system declined to N4.92tn, compared with N5.19tn in the previous month, suggesting more cash remained within the formal banking system.

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Further analysis of the statistics showed that net domestic assets rose 4.37 per cent, increasing from N102.26tn in May to N106.73tn in June.

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In contrast, net foreign assets slipped 1.56 per cent, falling from N26.95tn to N26.53tn over the same period.

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Overall, broad money supply expanded 3.11 per cent month-on-month, reflecting the continued increase in liquidity despite the CBN’s tight monetary policy stance.

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The increase in money supply comes as the Central Bank of Nigeria continues to balance liquidity management with efforts to curb inflation and preserve macroeconomic stability. Analysts warn that the expansion in money supply could make it more difficult for the apex bank to contain inflation.

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The latest figures follow the CBN’s decision to retain the Monetary Policy Rate at 26.5 per cent at the Monetary Policy Committee meeting held this week.

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The committee also left all other monetary policy parameters unchanged, arguing that maintaining a tight policy stance would help sustain the disinflation process and support macroeconomic stability.

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