CBN Puts Accumulated Savings, Liquid Assets by Nigerians at N75.65trn

Following mounting macroeconomic uncertainty, Nigerians are leaning heavily towards savings and low-risk financial instruments, with recent data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showing a marked increase in quasi-money holdings.

Quasi-money are assets that are easily and quickly convertible into cash. They are considered to be close substitutes for cash in the economy.

According to the CBN’s Money and Credit Statistics for March 2025, quasi-money, comprising savings deposits, fixed-term deposits and other liquid but non-transactional assets, rose to N75.65 trillion, representing a 3.65 per cent month-on-month (m/m) increase and a 26.42 per cent rise year-on-year, up from N59.84 trillion in March 2024.

The surge highlights a growing preference for capital preservation, as households and businesses seek refuge in interest-bearing instruments amid Nigeria’s ongoing economic slowdown.

“The rising volume of quasi money reflects both a cautious approach to spending and increasing trust in formal financial institutions,” said a senior analyst at Vetiva Capital. “It’s a defensive strategy by savers who are navigating inflationary pressures and volatile market conditions.”

The CBN has maintained a tight monetary policy for over a year, with high interest rates designed to tame inflation. This stance has made fixed-income securities, such as treasury bills and term deposits, especially attractive to investors.

In January 2025, the CBN’s auction for 364-day treasury bills saw an oversubscription of N1.47 trillion, with stop rates reaching 22.6 per cent. By mid-February, total subscriptions across tenors remained strong at N2.41 trillion, underlining sustained demand for secure, high-yield instruments.

The data also reveals that broad money supply (M2) grew to N114.20 trillion in March 2025, a 23.69 per cent increase year-on-year, with quasi money continuing to dominate M2 composition. Meanwhile, demand deposits rose to N33.96 trillion, up 17.65 per cent from the same period last year, while currency outside banks jumped 26.72 per cent to N4.59 trillion.

The central bank also reported mixed trends in domestic credit: Net domestic credit rose 12.47 per cent year-on-year to N103.37 trillion, though it dipped 1.20 per cent month-on-month.

Credit to the government grew 31.99 per cent to N25.86 trillion year-on-year but fell 4.63 per cent in March, suggesting a brief pause in government borrowing whilst private sector credit growth remained modest at 7.10 per cent pointing to conservative lending practices and subdued appetite for new debt in the real economy.

Analysts say the quasi-money uptick reflects a broader trend of financial system deepening, driven by digitization and formal banking efforts. The rise in savings could, over time, translate into stronger capital pools for lending, once macroeconomic stability returns.

While the flight to safety is a rational response to uncertainty, experts warn that over-reliance on fixed-income assets could limit economic dynamism in the long term.

However, for now, Nigeria’s financial landscape suggests that stability, not speculation, is the dominant mood among savers and investors.