The Centre for the Study of Economies of Africa (CSEA), a leading economic research think-tank with primary focus on economic trends in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), has advised that to sustain the positive momentum in the nation’s foreign reserves, monetary and fiscal authorities must work in close coordination.
The research firm, in its Nigeria Economic Update Issue 30 report circulated to our correspondent on Friday, specifically recommended that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Government should introduce targeted tax incentives, improve trade and export logistics, and strengthen the competitiveness of the non-oil export sector to promote sustainable autonomous FX earnings over the long term.
In addition, the Centre pointed out that maintaining a transparent, market-reflective exchange rate regime, supported by effective regulatory oversight, would help reduce exchange rate volatility, enhance investor confidence, and channel capital inflows into productive sectors of the economy rather than speculative activities.
Hinging its advisory points on the just published Nigeria’s 2025 Annual Report and Statement of Accounts published by the apex bank, the CSEA maintained that the increase in net FX inflows underscored the growing contribution of autonomous sources to Nigeria’s foreign exchange liquidity.
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According to the economic researchers in the Centre, this development has strengthened private-sector liquidity, improved investor confidence, and supported the expansion of non-oil trade.
The experts further clarified: “However, the significant increase in autonomous outflows and the economy’s ongoing reliance on imported industrial inputs highlight persistent structural weaknesses in the system. These include limited domestic manufacturing capacity and increased vulnerability to volatile short-term capital flows.”
Data in the just released Nigeria’s foreign reserves position by the apex bank indicated that the country recorded total foreign exchange (FX) inflows of US$109.86 billion in 2025, representing a 13.81% increase from US$96.53 billion in 2024.
The CBN attributed the growth largely to the surge in autonomous inflows, particularly non-oil export receipts and capital importation.
A further analysis of the foreign reserves data indicated that net FX inflows rose to US$60.81 billion, despite a 27.83% increase in aggregate outflows to US$49.05 billion and a 59.36% rise in overall FX utilisation, which reached US$42.83 billion.
The apex bank reported that FX utilisation was largely concentrated in invisible imports and visible imports for the industrial sector, the latter accounting for 42.11% of total utilisation.
Meanwhile, the decline in CBN-sourced inflows was primarily attributed to lower receipts from government debt and foreign exchange swap transactions.
