New ATM tariffs stir anxiety over Nigeria’s economic growth

PoS operators hint on raising service charges  Onome Amuge The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), recently announced a revision to Automated Teller Machine (ATM) withdrawal fees, effective from March 1 2025. The policy update, according to the apex bank, is part of sustained efforts to reduce the use of physical cash and promote digital transactions. […]

Exchange rate volatility to challenge Nigeria’s economy in 2025- Cowry Asset

Onome Amuge Johnson Chukwu, CEO, Cowry Asset Management Ltd. Nigeria’s foreign exchange market improved in 2024, driven by an uptick in foreign portfolio inflows, federal government foreign currency borrowing, and increased remittance inflows, resulting in the country’s foreign reserves surpassing the $40 billion mark. Despite the encouraging developments in 2024, Cowry Asset Management Limited, predicted […]

Nigeria’s money supply soars by 48% to record N107.7trn in 2024 -CBN

CBN shuns critics to push cash withdrawal limit policy

Onome Amuge The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released its October 2024 Money and Credit Statistics, revealing a major fluctuation in Nigeria’s broad Money Supply (M²). Data shows that the M² expanded 48.3 percent year-over-year (YoY) to N107.7 trillion, up from the N72.6 trillion recorded in October 2023. The growth continued for six consecutive […]

Naira will keep falling if we don’t prioritise Made-in-Nigeria products over imports- Gwadabe, ABCON president

The naira’s free-fall in recent times has been nothing short of calamitous, plunging to its worst-ever performance in history in 2024.  Investors, once bullish on Nigeria’s currency, are now jittery, with analysts projecting that the naira’s slide could accelerate in 2025. As the naira’s journey continues to be fraught with instability, AMINU GWADABE, president of […]

Currency outside banks now N4trn, says CBN

CBN says reduction of cash-based transactions by 2025 will foster cashless economy

Business a.m. Currency outside banks surged by 66.2 per cent in September 2024, reaching N4.02trn compared to N2.42trn in September 2023, a notable rise of N1.60trn in just one year. This is according to the Money and Credit Statistics data of the Central Bank of Nigeria. On a month-on-month basis, currency outside banks grew by […]

Naira dips to sub-Saharan currency low in World Bank report

Onome Amuge The Nigerian Naira has been identified as one of the worst-performing currencies in sub-Saharan Africa at the end of August 2024, according to the World Bank’s Africa’s Pulse report. The World Bank report revealed that the Nigerian Naira has fallen to the same level of decline as the Ethiopian Birr and South Sudanese […]

SERAP drags CBN to court over missing N100bn  dirty notes

Business a.m. The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has demanded that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) provide a detailed account of the  “over N100 billion in dirty and bad notes”, along with ‘other large sums of cash awaiting examination,’ which are reportedly being held in various CBN branches. According to Kolawole Oluwadare, deputy […]

Naira slumps to bottom of global currency rankings in 2024

IMF advises CBN to extend naira swap deadline over lingering scarcity

Business a.m. The Nigerian naira has been ranked the worst-performing currency globally in the first half of 2024, according to a recent report released by Bloomberg. The report identified several factors that contributed to the naira’s underperformance, including devaluation, a lack of dollar liquidity, and market volatility, which have reportedly hindered the CBN’s ability to […]

CBN faces major headwinds as Nigerians overlook banks for cash

Mixed reactions trail CBN’s fresh deadline on currency swap

  Currency in circulation hits record-high N3.97trn Apex bank lose grip as tightening falls short ONOME AMUGE Nigeria’s currency in circulation seems to have defied the iron grip of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s monetary policy tightening as it leaped to a record-breaking peak of N3.97 trillion in May 2024, a N314.6 billion increase […]

Naira’s fortune reverses from top to world’s worst-performing currency

Commercial banks to trade forex freely as CBN floats currency

Onome Amuge Nigeria’s naira has plunged from grace, transitioning from the world’s top-performing currency in March to the worst-performing in April, as revealed by a recent Bloomberg report. The report unveils the naira’s downward trajectory, highlighting its rapid descent after a brief stint in the limelight. As the local currency embarks on another round of […]