Tony Chukwunyem 
Financial institutions’ credit to the economy fell by N735.03 billion or 1.15 per cent to N64.90 trillion in November 2023 compared with N64.17 trillion in the corresponding period of 2022, latest Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) data has shown. According to the “Money and Credit Statistics” for November 2023, released by the apex bank yesterday, Monthon-Month, net domestic credit dropped by N8.06 trillion or 11.05 per cent from N72.96 trillion in October. The data also shows that of the N64.90 trillion net domestic credit in November, banks’ credit to the private sector and net credit to government, stood at N59.74 trillion and N5.16 trillion respectively.
New Telegraph’s analysis of the data indicates that net credit to government dropped sharply by N17.47 trillion or 77.19 per cent to N5.16 trillion in November compared with N22.64 trillion in the corresponding period of 2022. Similarly, the data shows that Month-on-Month, net credit to government fell by N4.23 trillion or 45 per cent to N5.16 trillion in November from N9.39 trillion in the previous month. Further analysis of the data indicates that banks credit to the private sector increased by N18.21 trillion or 43.84 per cent to N59.74 trillion in November, from N41.53 trillion in the corresponding period of 2022. However, Month-onMonth, banking sector credit to the private sector, dropped by N3.83 trillion or 6.03 per cent to N59.74 trillion in November from N63.57 trillion in October 2023. Meanwhile, the CBN’s latest Money and Credit Statistics indicate that Currency Outside Banks (COB) rose to N3.08 trillion in November from N2.70 trillion in October. Similarly, currency in circulation increased to N3.35 trillion in November from N3.01 trillion in the previous month.
