Central Bank of Nigeria publishes October 2025 economic report showing inflation easing to 18.97% and the naira appreciating at the NFEM

The Central Bank of Nigeria published its October 2025 Economic Report, pointing to firmer domestic activity alongside continued disinflation and an appreciating naira at the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM). Nigeria’s composite Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 55.40, extending expansion to an eleventh consecutive month, while headline inflation eased to 18.97% year on year and foreign reserves increased to USD 43.34bn, equivalent to 8.31 months of import cover for goods and services. Provisional fiscal data showed federally collected revenue falling 15.72% month on month to NGN 3.15trn, with oil receipts down 24.02% and non-oil down 10.02%, resulting in a 7.43% lower distributed balance of NGN 2.10trn. Broad money (M3) rose 5.68% over end-December 2024 to NGN 119.79trn, while aggregate credit to the economy edged down 0.18% to NGN 56.94trn and consumer credit increased to NGN 3.68trn from NGN 3.11trn. Financial soundness indicators remained above regulatory thresholds for liquidity and capital adequacy, but the non-performing loans ratio rose to 7.74% and remained above the prudential benchmark; the NGX All-Share Index gained 8.00% and market capitalisation increased 6.14% to NGN 149.20trn. In the external sector, the trade surplus narrowed to USD 1.23bn as imports rose, while capital importation increased to USD 3.68bn driven mainly by foreign portfolio investment and net foreign exchange inflow rose to USD 7.91bn; the average NFEM exchange rate strengthened to NGN 1,459.59 per USD. The report projects global growth moderating to 3.20% in 2025 and expects Nigeria’s inflation to continue easing in the near term, while flagging risks including oil-price volatility, security challenges, infrastructure bottlenecks and potential energy price adjustments.