The Central Bank of Nigeria says the country’s Foreign Exchange reserve has hit 35.05 billion dollars.
The financial institution said the last time the reserve reached this height was on May 30, 2023, a day after President Bola Tinubu’s inauguration when it was 35.09 billion dollars and before the unification of the naira in June.
From July to December 2023, the reserves fluctuated within the 33 billion dollars range.
This year, the reserves experienced three months of noticeable fluctuations, plunging to a low of 32.11 billion dollars on April 19, 2024.
The central bank Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, had to address the issue of the decline at the last International Monetary Fund Spring meeting, where he said the decreasing reserves were primarily due to debt repayments and other standard financial obligations, rather than efforts to defend the naira.
However, since then, a gradual and consistent upward trajectory has been observed.
Nigeria has been experiencing a surge in exchange rate in the last few weeks ending the month of June above 34 billion dollars for the first time since April.
The reserves have continued to swell in July hitting multiple highs that have now culminated in the highest reserve in the last one year.