Nigeria’s external reserves saw a significant increase, reaching $35.77 billion on Thursday, up from $33.09 billion at the end of 2023.
According to the Central Bank of Nigeria‘s (CBN) latest data, this marks a $2.68 billion surge in the nation’s external reserves over the past six months.
Further analysis revealed that Nigeria’s foreign reserve surpassed the $35.05 billion mark on July 8, ultimately hitting $35.77 billion on Thursday.
However, the CBN’s recent economic outlook, titled ‘Macroeconomic Outlook: Price Discovery for Economic Stabilisation,’ predicted a decline in external reserves for 2024. This projection is based on ongoing payments for outstanding foreign exchange forward obligations, matured foreign exchange swaps, and debt servicing.
Despite this forecast, the CBN indicated that improved crude oil earnings and recent reforms in the foreign exchange market and energy sector are expected to mitigate the drop in external reserves.
The outlook also anticipated a slight increase in diaspora remittances, projecting them to rise to $19.42 billion in 2024 from $19.17 billion in 2023.
The apex bank said, “The expected improvement in crude oil earnings, together with recent reforms in the foreign exchange market and energy sector, however, would cushion the drop in external reserves.
“The outlook also projected a marginal increase to $19.42 billion from $19.17 billion in 2023 for diaspora remittances.
“The external reserves, which stood at $33.09bn in 2023 could reduce slightly in 2024.”
