Nigeria: Banks' Deposits With CBN Declined 1.14% to N82.99tn in August - Report

What the report says

Nigerian banks reduced the amount they placed with the Central Bank of Nigeria in August 2026, according to data cited by This Day and distributed by AllAfrica. The total fell 1.14% month on month to N82.99 trillion from N83.96 trillion in July. The report says these overnight placements are made through the CBN’s Standing Deposit Facility, where banks park excess liquidity and earn interest.

The August figure was described as the third-lowest monthly placement by banks so far in 2026. It came after much larger deposits earlier in the year, including N128.92 trillion in March, while the first eight months of 2026 totaled an estimated N678.36 trillion, far above the same period in 2025. The article also notes that the CBN lowered the Monetary Policy Rate to 26.50% in February 2026 and kept the standing facilities corridor around that benchmark during the year.

Market analysts and banking commentators quoted in the report linked the pattern to the high-interest-rate environment, liquidity conditions, credit risk concerns and banks’ preference for safer returns. Some said lower central bank placements can reflect a shift into lending or securities, while others pointed to caution around loan performance and broader economic uncertainty.

The development matters because SDF balances can offer a snapshot of how much spare cash banks are holding and whether they are moving toward private-sector lending or continuing to favor low-risk placements with the CBN.