Nigeria’s foreign exchange buffers have strengthened sharply since the current administration’s economic reforms began, with net reserves increasing to about $40 billion from roughly $3 billion, according to Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Speaking at the BusinessDay CEO Forum in Lagos, Cardoso said the rebound in net reserves reflects renewed confidence in Nigeria’s economy and the effectiveness of reforms aimed at stabilising the foreign exchange market.
He added that the country’s gross external reserves stood at about $52 billion as of Wednesday.
“When we started, the net exchange reserves figure was in the region of about $3 billion-plus. And if you remember, that was a figure that was published at the time by J.P. Morgan and created a lot of panic in the system,” he said.
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According to him, the recovery in net reserves underscores the impact of the reforms undertaken to restore confidence in the economy and strengthen the country’s external position.
“So, in a nutshell, I do believe that where we are now, we’ve achieved that hard-earned stability, and with stability comes potential for investment, and with investment comes growth, and all our local CEOs should be part and parcel of that train that is moving,” Cardoso said.
He urged Nigerian business leaders to take advantage of the improved macroeconomic stability and participate actively in the next phase of the country’s economic growth.
Cardoso said the restoration of stability was not an end in itself but a foundation for increased investment, economic expansion and broader prosperity.
The CBN governor’s comments came as Nigeria continues to rebuild its external reserves and improve liquidity in the foreign exchange market following reforms aimed at addressing distortions in the FX market.
He said the progress made so far should create greater confidence for businesses and investors to commit capital to the Nigerian economy.