A new report by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revealed that the apex bank spent ₦464 billion on printing, distributing, processing and destroying worn-out naira notes in 2025.
The amount represents a 94% increase from the ₦238.6 billion spent in 2024, making currency issuance one of the CBN’s biggest operational expenses during the year.
The report also showed that the CBN and its subsidiaries spent ₦416 billion on personnel costs, including ₦56.2 billion on salaries, ₦28.2 billion on defined benefit plans, ₦226 billion on staff allowances and ₦87.1 billion on other staff expenses.
In addition, the report revealed that losses from digital payment fraud dropped significantly to ₦25.85 billion in 2025 from ₦52.26 billion in 2024.
Despite the improvement, the CBN warned that cyber threats, systemic risks, the dominance of a few major payment service providers and the activities of unlicensed operators continue to pose risks to Nigeria’s financial system.
The apex bank said stronger cybersecurity, improved fraud detection and closer collaboration among financial institutions are needed to protect the country’s growing digital payment ecosystem.
