Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Thursday informed the senate committee on banking, insurance and other financial institutions that the country’s foreign reserves have risen to $46.7 billion.
While addressing the committee, Cardoso said the reserves
level is the highest in nearly seven years and now provides about 10.3 months
of import cover.
The CBN governor said the gains reflect renewed confidence
in the economy and improved stability in the foreign exchange market.
He told the lawmakers that the gap between the official and
parallel market exchange rates has narrowed to under two percent from over 60
percent a year ago.
He added that the average exchange rate at the Nigerian
foreign exchange market has strengthened to N1,442.92 per dollar as of November
26 from N1,551.08 recorded in the first half of the year.
He said diaspora remittances have surged by 66.7 percent,
rising from $200 million monthly to about $600 million in recent months.
“Another important outcome was the resolution of the $7
billion of verified FX backlog, restoring credibility and confidence in the
Nigerian economy,” Cardoso said.
He noted that inflation had fallen for seven consecutive
months to 16.05 percent in October, the lowest in three years, while food
inflation dropped to 13.12 percent.
He said the real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 3.98
percent in the third quarter of 2025, driven by crop production, ICT, real
estate and financial services.
Cardoso said the prospects for 2026 are “very positive”,
adding that Nigeria now ranks among Africa’s most advanced digital payments
markets, powered by a vibrant fintech ecosystem that has produced eight of the
continent’s nine unicorns.
Tokunbo Abiru, chairman of the committee, praised the CBN
monetary policy framework, saying lawmakers have observed “remarkable
macroeconomic improvements” since its last engagement with the bank in July.
“These positive indicators have not gone unnoticed
globally,” Abiru said.
“I commend the bank and its leadership for the role played
in earning the country favourable ratings from Fitch and S&P Global
Ratings, reflecting improved investor sentiment, policy credibility, and
macroeconomic stability.”
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