The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revealed that credit extended to the government rose by 65.6 per cent year-on-year to N39.6 trillion in April 2026 from N23.9 trillion in April 2025, driven by increased borrowing to finance the 2026 budget deficit.
In its latest Money and Credit Statistics, the apex bank showed that the federal government increased borrowing from domestic investors by 7.4 per cent to N8.1 trillion in the first quarter of 2026 from N7.5 trillion in the same period of 2025.
The CBN data also showed that credit to the private sector rose by 3.25 per cent to N80.6 trillion in April 2026 from N78.06 trillion in April 2025.
Consequently, net domestic credit rose by 17.8 per cent to N120.2 trillion in April 2026 from N102 trillion in the corresponding period last year.
Following the same trend, Nigeria’s broad money supply (M2) increased by 4.8 per cent YoY to N124.98 trillion in April 2026 from N119.2 trillion recorded in April 2025, reflecting improved liquidity in the financial system.
Further breakdown of the money supply components showed that currency outside banks declined by 12.2 per cent to N5.08 trillion in April 2026 from N5.7 trillion in the corresponding period of 2025, indicating increased use of banking channels and electronic payment systems.
However, demand deposits (current accounts) increased by 6.3 per cent to N38.7 trillion from N36.4 trillion during the review period.
Also, quasi-money increased by 3.8 per cent to N81.2 trillion in April 2026 from N78.2 trillion in April 2025. Quasi money includes money in savings accounts, time deposits, treasury bills and other money market instruments.
Narrow money, which includes currency in circulation and current accounts, also grew by 7.09 per cent to N43.8 trillion from N40.9 trillion.
This comes as the federal government plans to borrow N29.2 trillion to fund the gap between the revenue of N68.32 trillion and expenditure of N36.87 trillion, according to the Appropriation Act 2026.