Credit to the economy rose by 16 per cent to N56.5 trillion in five months to May this year driven by a sharp increase in credit to the government.
Meanwhile Currency Outside Banks, COB, fell by 6.4 per cent during the five months period to N2.75 trillion at the end of May from N2.94 trillion at the end of December 2021.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, disclosed this in its Money and Credit Statistics which showed that credit to the government overshadowed credit to the private sector during the five months period.
According to the CBN, credit to the government rose by N4.94 trillion or 37 per cent to N18.26 trillion at the end of May from N13.32 trillion at the end of December 2021.
However, credit to the private sector recorded a lower growth of 8.5 per cent or N3 trillion to N38.2 trillion at the end of May from N35.2 trillion at the end of December 2021.
Consequently, credit to the economy rose by 7.94 trillion or 16.3 per cent to N56.5 trillion at the end of May from N48.5 trillion at the end of December 2021.
But on a month-on-month basis, MoM, credit to the economy rose by 3.0 per cent to N56.5 trillion in May from N52.8 trillion in April.
The growth was driven by a 6.4 per cent MoM increase in credit to the government which rose to N18.2 trillion in May from N17.1 trillion in April.
On the other hand, credit to the private sector rose MoM by N600 billion or 1.5 per cent to N38.2 trillion in May from N37.6 trillion in April 2022.
