Cardoso: Nigeria’s foreign reserves now $40.8bn

Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), says the country’s foreign reserves rose to $40.88 billion as of November 21.

Cardoso spoke on Tuesday at a press conference after the monetary policy committee’s 298th meeting in Abuja.

He said the external reserves grew from $40.06 billion at the end of October to $40.88 billion in November.

The amount represents an increase of $82 million or 2.05 percent in 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 said.

However, checks on the apex bank’s website showed that Nigeria’s foreign reserves stood at $40.27 billion on November 22 – less than what Cardoso presented.

Further speaking at the event, Cardoso said “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.

“However, and it’s very important to make a distinction here and to reiterate the fact that reserves are there for a multiplicity of different purposes, not least of which is to create buffers in the event of unanticipated shocks.

“So they are not there to simply whittle away. They are there to be used to more or less defend yourself where that becomes necessary.

“And when we talk about shocks that are not anticipated, I think we can see how the global economies are.” 

Cardoso also said the bank will continue to intensify efforts to stabilise the currency and prices.

According to the CBN governor, “the currency has been stable compared to what it was in June”.

But he said for the value of the country’s currency to be stable, there needs to be increased exports and diversification of the economy.

Cardoso said diaspora remittance has increased due to policies that have been put in place.

He commended those in the diaspora for helping the country accomplish over $600 million in remittances.