- Active bank accounts hit 311.65m in December, says NIBSS
The Central Bank of Nigeria has said that without its policy interventions, inflation could have surged to 42.81 per cent by December 2024.
It also projected that diaspora remittances would rise to N31.79trn when fourth-quarter figures for 2024 are released.
Going forward, the apex bank has pledged to stick to orthodox monetary policies to tame inflation in 2025.
The CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, made these disclosures in Abuja on Thursday at the 2025 Monetary Policy Forum, which brought together ministers, heads of economic agencies, and private sector players.
He stated that counterfactual estimates suggest that without decisive policy interventions, inflation could have reached 42.81 per cent by December 2024.
He further noted that throughout 2024, the CBN implemented bold policy measures across six Monetary Policy Committee meetings, including raising the Monetary Policy Rate by 875 basis points to 27.50 per cent, increasing the Cash Reserve Ratio for Other Depository Corporations by 1,750 basis points to 50.00 per cent, and adjusting the asymmetric corridor around the MPR.
Cardoso said, “Counterfactual estimates suggest that without these decisive policy interventions, inflation could have reached 42.81 per cent by December 2024.”
He added, “Throughout 2024, the Bank implemented several bold policy measures across six MPC meetings, including raising the Monetary Policy Rate by a cumulative 875 basis points to 27.50 per cent, increasing the Cash Reserve Ratio of Other Depository Corporations by 1,750 basis points to 50.00 per cent, and adjusting the asymmetric corridor around the MPR.”
Cardoso highlighted that the CBN implemented critical foreign exchange reforms to enhance market efficiency.
The unification of multiple exchange rate windows contributed to a 79.4 per cent rise in remittances via International Money Transfer Operators to $4.18bn in the first three quarters of 2024, up from $2.33bn in the same period in 2023.
Other major FX-related interventions included clearing a $7bn FX backlog, which restored market confidence and improved FX liquidity, lifting restrictions on 41 items previously banned from access to the official FX market since 2015, and introducing new minimum capital requirements for banks, effective March 2026, to enhance resilience and global competitiveness in the sector.
The apex bank also launched the WIFI initiative under the National Financial Inclusion Strategy, aimed at bridging the gender gap in financial access by empowering women with financial services, education, and digital tools.
Also, the Nigeria Foreign Exchange Code was introduced to ensure integrity, transparency, and efficiency in the FX market.
Cardoso described the code as a binding commitment by the financial sector to rebuild trust and boost confidence.
He said these reforms reflect the CBN’s commitment to creating an enabling environment for inclusive economic development, adding that achieving macroeconomic stability requires sustained vigilance and a proactive monetary policy stance.
On inflation, the CBN Governor warned that managing disinflation amid persistent shocks would require strong policy coordination between fiscal and monetary authorities.
He stated that the focus must remain on price stability, the planned transition to an inflation-targeting framework, and strategies to restore purchasing power and ease economic hardship.
He expressed optimism that Nigeria had turned a corner and that disinflation was within reach but stressed the need for bold and coordinated policy measures to consolidate progress.
Cardoso noted that global capital flows to emerging markets could improve as advanced economies ease monetary policies.
However, he stressed that Nigeria’s ability to attract inflows would depend on investor confidence in domestic reforms, macroeconomic stability, and positive real returns on investment.
He reiterated that the CBN’s transition from unorthodox to orthodox monetary policies was aimed at restoring confidence, strengthening policy credibility, and prioritising price stability.
Encouragingly, he said, FX liquidity is improving, and the naira is gradually aligning with market fundamentals, creating a more predictable environment for production, exports, and essential imports.
Speaking earlier, CBN Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, Mohammed Sani Abdullahi said the liberalisation of the FX market was a crucial step in unifying the fragmented system and reducing speculative-driven premiums.
He noted that before the adoption of a flexible exchange rate regime, the average FX premium stood at 62.33 per cent between January and May 2023.
However, following the reform, the premium dropped to 0.10 per cent by June 2023, indicating significant progress towards market convergence.
Abdullahi said, “Prior to the adoption of a flexible exchange rate regime, the average exchange rate premium stood at an alarming 62.33 per cent between January and May 2023.
“With the introduction of the flexible exchange rate regime, this premium was drastically reduced to an all-time low of 0.10 per cent by June 2023, signaling significant progress towards market convergence.”
The deputy governor revealed that diaspora remittances rose from N12.48trn in 2023 to N22.73trn by Q3 2024, and is projected to hit N31.79trn when full-year data is released.
Despite these gains, Abdullahi acknowledged that disinflation efforts had been hindered by persistent supply and demand shocks, making it difficult to achieve a single-digit inflation target.
He noted that these shocks, among other factors, necessitated decisive policy actions to prevent entrenched inflationary expectations.
He added that this highlighted the critical importance of sustained communication and engagement with stakeholders, a commitment exemplified by the forum.
Active bank accounts hit 311.65m in December – NIBSS
Also, latest data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System has revealed that the volume of active accounts in the Nigerian banking system rose to 311.65 million as of December 2024.
This marks a 48.89 per cent appreciation in the 12 months from January 2024, when the figure stood at 209,311,667, to December, when it hit 311,649,173. In essence, about 102,337,506 new accounts had been activated within the period.
Previous NIBSS data showed that active bank accounts in the country stood at 202.6 million at the end of 2023.
The data also indicated that the volume of dormant or inactive accounts had also increased between January and December 2024 to 19,697,125, which is about a 6.52 per cent increment.
For closed accounts, the volume also increased, rising by 17.40 per cent or 3,777,648, between January and December 2024 to settle at 25,486,054.
According to the World Bank, access to a transaction account is the first step toward broader financial inclusion since it allows people to store, send, and receive money.
The bank said that as of 2021, the number of Nigerians with accounts at regulated institutions such as banks, credit unions, microfinance institutions, post offices, or mobile money service providers increased by 45 per cent.
The World Bank said that while global account ownership increased from 51 per cent in 2011 to 76 per cent in 2021, in Nigeria, account ownership grew from 30 per cent to 45 per cent in the same period.
The CBN adopted the National Financial Inclusion Strategy in 2012 to drive financial inclusion in the country.
The strategy articulated the demand-side, supply-side, and regulatory barriers to financial inclusion, identified areas of focus, set targets, determined key performance indicators, and established the implementation structure.
The NFIS was built on four strategic areas: agency banking, mobile banking/mobile payments, linkage models, and client empowerment.
Four priority areas were identified for guideline and framework development, namely, tiered Know Your Customer regulations, agent banking regulations, the National Financial Literacy Strategy, and consumer protection.
Meanwhile, the 2023 EFInA Access to Finance Survey revealed that more Nigerians are now captured in the formal banking system even as gaps persist.
Financial inclusion rose to 74 per cent in 2023 from 68 per cent in 2020, while 26 per cent of Nigerians remained financially excluded.
“Despite the growth in access, certain demographic gaps continue to persist in Nigeria. For instance, the gender gap: growth in women’s financial inclusion from 60 per cent in 2020 to 70 per cent in 2023 despite an increase in the gender gap from eight per cent recorded in 2020 to nine per cent in 2023. Urban-rural gap: decrease in the gap from 24 per cent recorded in 2020 to 20 per cent in 2023. Youth (18-35): 71 percent financial inclusion recorded in 2023. Northern Nigeria: despite growing access, including significant gains in the North-East and North-West, all states in the North-East report exclusion levels above the national average,” the report said.
At the second edition of the International Financial Inclusion Conference 2024 with the theme ‘Inclusive Growth—Harnessing Financial Inclusion for Economic Development,’ held in November, Cardoso said that financial inclusion has the potential to unlock significant economic growth, particularly through the empowerment of small and medium-sized enterprises, women, and other vulnerable segments of the population.
Cardoso highlighted the CBN’s significant progress in promoting financial inclusion for vulnerable populations through frameworks aimed at closing gender gaps and providing regulatory support for digital platforms that enhance access to financial services. He further explained that the CBN was committed to empowering young Nigerians to attain financial independence, encouraging entrepreneurship, and stimulating economic growth across the country through focused financial literacy initiatives.
He emphasised that the adoption of digital payment channels using mobile technology had been a transformative tool for financial inclusion, with Nigeria’s growing mobile phone penetration offering a unique opportunity to expand access to financial services, noting that interoperable payment platforms had enabled millions of Nigerians to send payments, save, and access credit even without traditional bank accounts.
