Nigeria’s external reserves surged to $53.11bn as of 24 August, representing the highest accruals to the nation’s foreign vaults bringing the reserves close to the reserves level recorded in 2009.
The latest data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the reserves level indicated that the lasted value represented the highest since 12 January, 2009, when the reserves reached $53.25bn.
The apex bank’s statistics over the past few months reflected that the foreign reserves have been growing since June this year, rising from $49.96bn on 3 June, again growing up to $51.53bn on 3 July before crossing the $52bn threshold on 27 July and rising to $52.86bn on 21 August and further climbing to $53.11bn as of 24 August.
It would be recalled that the Acting Director, Corporate Communications and Investor Relations Department of the CBN, Hakama Sidi-Ali, had in a statement issued on 19 August, maintained that over the past 34 months, the apex bank Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, had undertaken sundry monetary reforms to position Nigeria on the path of sustainable inclusive growth and job creation to alleviate poverty.
- Advertisement -
The spokesperson listed some of the reforms as including the unification and transparency of the foreign exchange (FX) market; successful banking sector recapitalisation, which has strengthened the resilience, capacity and competitiveness of the Nigerian banking industry.
Others include, the launch of the non-resident BVN to connect Nigerians abroad with local banking services; the B-Match System for forex trading; unveiling of the Nigeria Payments System Vision 2028; and introduction of a 75 per cent Cash Reserve Ratio on non-Treasury Single Account public sector deposits to enhance liquidity management and curb inflationary risks, among other reforms.
Experts noted that the growing foreign reserves had partly been aided by improved oil earnings by the country and increased dollar inflows into the economy with the attendant positive implications for Nigeria’s resilience against external shocks and ongoing government’s reforms to improve confidence in the nation’s FX market.
