By Yakubu LAAH InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Currency-in-circulation in Nigeria fell by 4.9 percent at N1, 497.1 billion at the end of the second quarter of 2014, compared with the decline of 11.4 and 5.5 percent at the end of the preceding quarter and the corresponding quarter of 2013, respectively, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said in its economic report for the second quarter of 2014.

The CBN says the development relative to the preceding quarter was attributed, largely, to the 3.7 percent fall in vault cash.

The report affirmed that total deposits at the CBN increased marginally by 1.0 percent to N6,885.9 billion, compared with the decline of 3.0 percent at the end of the first quarter of 2014. ‘’The development reflected, largely, the 22.0 percent rise in Federal Government deposits, which more than offset the 6.8 and 50.9 percent fall in the deposits of banks and “Others”, respectively,’’ CBN said.

According to the CBN, of the total deposits, the shares of the Federal Government, banks and ‘’Others’’ were N3,371.3 billion (49.0 percent), N3,225.9 billion (46.8 percent) and N288.7 billion (4.2 percent), respectively.

The report further affirmed that Reserve Money (RM), at N4, 723.1 billion, fell by 6.2 percent, compared with the 9.4 percent decline recorded at the end of the preceding quarter. ‘’The development, relative to the level at the end of the preceding quarter, was attributed to the respective decline of 4.9 and 6.9 percent in its currency and demand deposit components,’’ the CBN added.