IMTO inflows jump 45% to $1.29bn in Q1

IMTO inflows jump 45% to $1.29bn in Q1

Nigeria recorded a sharp increase in foreign exchange inflows through International Money Transfer Operators in the first quarter of 2026, with the value rising 45 per cent year-on-year to a record $1.29bn.

Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Q1 2026 Statistical Bulletin showed that IMTO inflows increased from $888.47m in the first quarter of 2025 to $1.29bn during the period under review.

The latest figure represents an additional $398.26m compared with the corresponding period last year.

January recorded the largest monthly inflow during the quarter at $506.66m. February followed with $402.13m, significantly higher than the $288.82m recorded in the same month of 2025.

IMTO inflows stood at $377.93m in March, compared with $317.60m recorded a year earlier.

Despite the month-on-month decline after January, the overall first-quarter performance remained stronger than the corresponding period in previous years. The $1.29bn recorded in Q1 2026 was also higher than the first-quarter IMTO inflows reported for every year from 2019 to 2025 in the CBN’s data.

The latest increase builds on stronger inflows recorded through formal remittance channels in 2025.

April 2025 recorded the highest monthly IMTO inflow for the year at $597.44m. December followed with $511.11m, while inflows reached $485.65m in October and $402.25m in November.

The improvement indicates a continued shift towards formal channels for diaspora remittances and foreign exchange receipts.

It also represents a recovery from the weakness recorded in the first half of 2025, when IMTO

inflows declined 11.78 per cent compared with the corresponding period of 2024.

The stronger inflows have coincided with efforts by the CBN to tighten regulation and improve transparency in the IMTO market.

In March 2026, the apex bank instructed IMTOs to open and maintain naira settlement accounts with authorised dealer banks.

The directive was aimed at strengthening the monitoring of remittance transactions and improving

transparency in Nigeria’s foreign exchange market.

The CBN had previously removed the exchange-rate cap for IMTOs in January 2024. Before the policy change, operators were required to quote rates within a range of -2.5 per cent to +2.5 per cent around the previous day’s closing rate in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.

The regulator also increased the application fee for IMTO licences from N500,000 to N10m under its revised operating guidelines.

The latest IMTO figures come amid broader improvements in Nigeria’s foreign exchange inflows.

CBN data showed that Nigeria recorded net foreign exchange flows of $4.94bn in March 2026. Although the figure was 29 per cent below the previous month, it was 38 per cent above the

$3.58bn recorded in March 2025.

Total foreign exchange inflows reached $109.86bn in 2025, compared with $96.53bn in 2024, representing a 13.81 per cent increase.

The sustained growth in IMTO inflows suggests that formal remittance channels are becoming an increasingly significant source of foreign exchange for the Nigerian economy.

Source: https://punchng.com/imto-inflows-jump-45-to-1-29bn-in-q1/