Financial institutions’ total loans to the government surged by 65.44 per cent, or N15.66 trillion, to N39.60 trillion in April 2026 from N23.93 trillion in the corresponding period of last year, latest data released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) shows.

New Telegraph’s analysis of the latest “Money and Credit statistics,” posted on the apex bank’s website yesterday, also indicates that net credit to the government rose by 0.61 per cent, or N239.92 billion in April 2026 from N39.36 trillion in February this year.

Further analysis of the data shows that credit to the private sector increased by 3.22 per cent to N80.59 trillion in April 2026, from N78.07 trillion in the corresponding period of last year. However, according to the data, credit to the private sector dropped by 14.82per cent, or N14.02 billion in April, from the N94.61 trillion recorded for February 2026.

Analysts note that available CBN data shows that net credit to the government has been heading north since the beginning of the year, a development that raises concerns about a likely widening of the government’s fiscal deficit and crowding out of the private sector. Meanwhile, the data indicates that Currency Outside Banks (COB) dropped by 2.02 per cent, or N104.76 billion, to N5.08 trillion in April 2026, from N5.19 trillion in February.