The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reported a 284.6% increase in the transaction volume of its digital currency, eNaira, for August 2023.
The apex bank which stated this in its Monthly Economic Report for August 2023 seen by Nairametrics also noted that for August, eNaira reached N9.78 billion.
Although the increase in eNaira for the month was substantial, when compared to the Currency-In-Circulation (CIC) it was only 0.37%.
The report said:
- “There was a substantial increase in the eNaira, which rose by 284.6% to ₦9.78 billion, although the ratio of eNaira to CIC at 0.37%”
The CBN also reported an 11.7% decline in currency-in-circulation for August to reach N2.66 trillion.
The decline in CIC was attributed to a rise in the use of electronic payment methods for business transactions.
Consumer credit for August
Total credits for the month increased by 0.8% to N38.55 trillion for the month with the service sector constituting over half of the credits at 52.2%.
The industry and agricultural sector represented 43.2% and 4.6% respectively.
On the other hand, consumer credits for the month stood at N2.99 trillion representing an increase of 16.9% from the previous month when compared to the previous month. The report noted that the rise in consumer credit is caused by an increase in demand for credit facilities by economic agents.
Personal loans constituted the most consumer credit for the month at 75.4% trailed by retail sector loans which represented 24.6%.
What you should know
- The CBN launched the eNaira in 2021 as part of its efforts to promote financial inclusion, innovation, and efficiency in the Nigerian economy.
- Although the innovation had noble intentions, adoption has been very low. A report by report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) 2023 assessed the adoption of the eNaira as disappointingly low.
- The institution noted that there has been slow growth concerning wallet downloads among retail users.
- The IMF noted that majority of the eNaira accounts were inactive and had an average of 14,000 eNaira transactions per week.
