Nigeria’s foreign reserves has hit $37.05 billion after increasing by $2.35 billion within a period of 18 days.
This was made known on Tuesday by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Yemi Cardoso, at a press briefing at the end of the 296th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja.
The CBN Governor noted that the external reserves rose from $34.70 billion as at the end of June 2024 to $37.05 billion.
“As of July 18, 2024, external reserves stood at US$37.05 billion, compared with US$34.70 billion as of June 2024. This represents eleven (11) months of import cover for goods and services”, Cardoso said.
With this development, it means that Nigeria’s external reserves are at their highest level since January 26, 2023, when it stood at $37.07 billion.
It will be recalled that in a recent meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), members urged the CBN to prioritise boosting the country’s external reserves.
Meanwhile in its 296th meeting, the MPC yesterday raised the monetary policy rate (MPR) to 26.75 percent from 26.25 percent – an increase of 50 basis points. This MPR hike is coming amidst increase in Nigeria’s headline inflation which rose to 34.19% in June, 2024.