In what may be interpreted as further in-roads in the cashless banking initiative of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and stakeholders in the nation’s financial system, the quantum of cash outside of banks reduced by a significant N103.918bn in the month of August.
Data on the website of the CBN monitored by Investdata News, on Monday showed that currency in circulation dropped from N1.928tr at the end of July, to N1.824tr, representing a 5.38% slide.
The drop is the biggest since January, when currency in circulation slipped by a significant N211.785bn, or 9.82%, from the N2.157tr recorded during the festive season of December 2017 a period when Christians mark Christmas, as well as the inter-faith celebration of the New Year, to N1.945tr in January, 2018.
Meanwhile, Year-on-Year, currency-in-Circulation dropped by N43.909bn, or 2.34% from N1.868tr reported on August 31, 2017.
Corroborating this, media reports quoted the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), as saying the value of instant transfer on its platform between January and September increased by 41% to N56.85tn, from N40.45tn in the corresponding period last year.
Transactions through mobile devices in the first nine months of the year also rose to N216bn, up by 56%, compared to N138bn in the corresponding period of 2017, while volume of transactions on the NIP platform increased by 76% from 248.01m transactions in the 2017 review to 435.68m.