The Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Standing Lending Facility (SLF) has increased year-on-year (YoY) by 466 percent to N268.3 billion at the end of October 2023 from N47.35 billion as of October 2022 reflecting the increase in currency outside banks.

The SLF and Repurchase (Repo) lending windows are the two short-term loan windows offered by the apex bank to banks and merchant banks.

According to data from the CBN Money and Credit Statistics, money outside of banks was valued at N2.35 trillion as of September 2023.

This represents a 195% increase from January 2023, when it fell to N792.18 billion as a result of changes to the design of the N200, N500, and N1000 notes.

Subsequent information about the CBN Financial data, however, also revealed that bank deposits in the CBN Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) rose YoY by 465 percent, from N935 billion in October 2022 to N5.29 trillion at the end of October 2023.

The CBN’s foreign exchange sales to the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Invisibles, and Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) decreased by 121 percent year-over-year to $2.92 billion in Q2’23 from $3.7 billion in Q2’22.

The CBN quarterly statistical bulletin of June 2023 included thesethis information top bank sold $1.2 billion in foreign exchange in April, according to a breakdown of transactions throughout the months that made up Q2’23.

Foreign exchange sales surged by 27 percent to $939.39 million in June after declining by 15.8% to $736.98 million in May.