Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), announced that the country’s foreign reserves increased to $40.88 billion as of November 21.
Cardoso made the statement on Tuesday during a press conference following the monetary policy committee’s 298th meeting in Abuja.
He reported that the external reserves grew from $40.06 billion at the end of October to $40.88 billion in November.
This marks an increase of $82 million, or 2.05 percent, in just 21 days.
“The external reserves rose marginally to 40.88 billion as of 21 November 2024, from 40.06 billion at the end of October 2024, available to finance 17 months of imports,” he explained.
However, a check on the apex bank’s website revealed that Nigeria’s foreign reserves were listed at $40.27 billion on November 22, which is lower than the figure presented by Cardoso.
Further commenting on the matter, Cardoso stated, “the process of getting us where we are in terms of reserves has been a long one.”
“It is a clear indication that the policies we have put in place are certainly yielding fruits,” he added.
He emphasized that “reserves are there for a multiplicity of different purposes, not least of which is to create buffers in the event of unanticipated shocks.”
“They are not there to simply whittle away. They are there to be used to more or less defend yourself where that becomes necessary,” he clarified.
“And when we talk about shocks that are not anticipated, I think we can see how the global economies are,” Cardoso continued.
The governor also affirmed that the bank will persist in efforts to stabilize the currency and prices.
“The currency has been stable compared to what it was in June,” he noted.
However, he pointed out that for the country’s currency to maintain stability, there must be increased exports and greater diversification of the economy.
Cardoso also highlighted that diaspora remittances have risen due to policies that have been implemented.
He commended Nigerians in the diaspora for helping the country achieve over $600 million in remittances.
