Total value of transactions through electronic payment channels declined to N23.19 trillion at the end of April this year.
The amount represents a drop of 6.3 per cent compared with N24.75 trillion recorded in the month of March 2021.
The analysis of the payment through electronic channels showed that a total of N21. 190 trillion transected in April using NIBSS Instant Payment against N22.502 trillion reported in March while in NEFT and POS, N1.252 trillion and N507.86 billion respectively traded through online using NEFT and POS within the reviewed period against N1.393 trillion and N531.38 billion reported in March.
Reviewing the nation’s economic Performance for the month of April, Chief Executive Officer, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Bismarck Rewane said value of transactions expected to rise towards N25 trillion in May on the backdrop of increasing economic activities.
Rewane said the growth of Gross Domestic Product could stall in the first quarter due to the base year effect while second quarter GDP estimated at 3.7 per cent mainly due to informal sector resilience and massive vaccination and herd immunity.
He said disbursement of $4- $5 billion to the market by the Central Bank of Nigeria will reduce external reserve by $2 to $3 billion, allow the parallel market to converge towards N470 to dollar.
