Central Bank of Nigeria bills held by money-holding sectors climbed to N5.60 trillion in September 2026, up sharply from N9.68 billion in August, according to data released by the apex bank. The N5.59 trillion increase within one month represented 74.4% of the N7.51 trillion expansion in broad money supply, which reached N146.60 trillion.
Broad money supply rose 5.40% month-on-month, but the narrower M2 measure advanced by only 1.38% to N141.00 trillion from N139.08 trillion in August. The divergence reflects the fact that CBN bills are included in the broader M3 measure but excluded from M2. On a month-on-month basis, CBN bills rose by approximately 57,744%, while M2 accounted for N1.92 trillion of the M3 expansion, equivalent to the remaining 25.6%.
The statistics highlight the need to distinguish aggregate money growth from the amount of funds available for transactions, savings and credit creation. CBN bills are interest-bearing instruments used for liquidity management, and their inclusion in M3 reflects the composition of the monetary aggregate rather than an injection of fresh cash into the economy.
Within M2, quasi-money rose 1.03% to N96.95 trillion from N95.97 trillion, while narrow money increased 2.17% to N44.05 trillion from N43.11 trillion. Currency outside banks edged up 1.00% to N4.92 trillion from N4.87 trillion, and demand deposits grew 2.32% to N39.12 trillion from N38.24 trillion. On a year-on-year basis, M2 increased 19.72% from N117.77 trillion in September 2025.
Net domestic credit rose 4.96% to N123.34 trillion from N117.51 trillion in August. Credit to government expanded 19.26% to N39.40 trillion from N33.04 trillion, a monthly increase of about N6.36 trillion and a year-on-year rise of 63.09% from N24.16 trillion. Private-sector credit, by contrast, slipped 0.64% to N83.93 trillion from N84.47 trillion, though it remained 15.73% above the N72.53 trillion recorded in September 2025.
Net foreign assets declined 13.57% to N30.90 trillion from N35.75 trillion in August and were 25.83% lower than the N41.66 trillion posted a year earlier. Net domestic assets grew 11.97% to N115.70 trillion from N103.34 trillion, up 51.99% year-on-year, indicating a shift towards domestic assets in the monetary survey.
The rise in CBN bills followed the apex bank's liquidity-management operations. Nairametrics earlier reported that the CBN sold about N17.51 trillion in Open Market Operations bills during September 2026 and repaid roughly N10.89 trillion in maturing bills, leaving a net liquidity withdrawal of approximately N6.62 trillion.
