The International Money Transfer Operator (IMTOs) inflows into Nigeria fell by 11.78 per cent in the first half of 2025 compared with the same period of last year, according to new figures from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s latest Quarterly Statistical Bulletin.
An analysis of the data showed that IMTO receipts totalled $2.07bn between January and June 2025, down from $2.34bn recorded in the corresponding period of 2024.
This represents a decline of about $275.93m year-on-year, showing pressure in an important non-oil foreign exchange source at a time the monetary authorities are banking on remittances to support market liquidity.
The monthly breakdown of the figures seen by our correspondent showed that the decline was uneven over the period, with only one month recording growth. In January 2025, IMTO inflows dropped to $281.97m from $390.86m in January 2024, a 27.86 per cent decline.
February receipts also weakened, declining by 11.65 per cent to $288.82m from $326.91m a year earlier. The downward trend continued in March, when inflows fell to $317.60m compared with $363.76m in March 2024, representing a 12.69 per cent decline.
However, April bucked the trend. Inflows through IMTOs rose sharply to $597.44m in April 2025 from $466.11m in April 2024, indicating a 28.18 per cent year-on-year increase. This was the strongest month in the six-month period and the only month to record positive growth.
The rebound did not last. In May 2025, inflows fell back to $288.17m from $404.75m recorded in the same month of the previous year, a 28.80 per cent drop. June also posted a decline of 25.02 per cent, with receipts slipping to $292.25m from $389.79m in June 2024.
The April spike helped to moderate the scale of the half-year fall but was not enough to offset weaker inflows across the other five months. International money transfers from Nigerians in the diaspora form a key plank of the country’s external receipts.
Remittances support household consumption, savings, investment, and foreign exchange supply. They have also become more important in recent years as the economy sought to diversify away from volatile oil earnings.
Fluctuations in the FX market, global economic conditions, and domestic purchasing power may all be playing a role in shaping remittance behaviour. While the bulletin did not provide reasons for the decline, the pattern suggests that inflows remained sensitive to both domestic and international economic headwinds.
According to the report by Punch newspaper, the dip in IMTO receipts comes despite wider policy reforms aimed at stabilising the foreign exchange market and rebuilding confidence.
It added that in January 2024, the CBN removed the cap on exchange rates quoted by IMTOs, which had previously limited rates to within ±2.5 per cent of the previous day’s closing rate
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