In 2022, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and its subsidiary spent approximately N74.84 billion to produce and distribute new currency notes and coins, which includes the rollout of naira notes. This represents a significant increase of 40.42% compared to the N53.29 billion spent in the previous year.
The breakdown of expenses includes N29.65 billion on currency issue expenses, a 94.66% increase from N15.23 billion in 2021. Currency issue expenses cover the costs associated with printing, processing, distributing, and disposing of currency notes.
Additionally, the cost of sale related to the production of currency notes and coins by the CBN’s subsidiary, the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc, was N45.19 billion in 2022. This marked an 18.72% increase from N38.07 billion in 2021 and covers expenses such as raw materials, employee benefits, electricity, diesel, depreciation, repairs, and maintenance.
Despite the increase in expenses, the total amount of money in circulation decreased by 9.47% in 2022, totaling N3.01 trillion compared to N3.32 trillion in 2021. In comparison, the total cost incurred for printing banknotes was N58.62 billion in 2020, representing a 28.83% decrease from the N75.52 billion spent in 2019.
In October 2022, the CBN announced plans to release redesigned naira notes by December 15, 2022, and specified that certain denominations of existing notes would cease to be legal tender by January 31, 2023. This decision led to a cash shortage that persisted for several months and had a negative impact on the country’s economy.