Nigeria’s external reserves have again, increased by $1.88 billion to $34.66 billion as of July 4, 2024, marking a 13-month high.
Gatekeepers News reports that this is according to historical records of central bank’s external reserve data for last year.
It is the highest level external reserve has touched since the introduction of foreign exchange (FX) unification policy, back in June 2023.
The growth in reserves is also on the back of a string of financial commitments from Afrexim Bank and the World Bank through loans and the CBN introduced a string of FX reforms.
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had on June 14, 2023 unveiled a strategy to streamline foreign exchange market by merging all segments into a single unified system.
The pivotal shift which was aimed at fostering liquidity and stability within Nigerian FX Market however seems to have triggered increased market volatility and a precipitous decline in naira’s value.
Nigeria’s external reserves were at $34.66 billion when CBN announced the FX unification policy.
The reserves, however, fluctuated within $33 billion range between July to December 2023.
External reserve hit $34.66 billion on July 4th, 2024, making it the highest in over a year.
The increase is second to the $34.69 billion achieved on 13th June 2023, just before the exchange rate was unified by the government.
Nigeria has been experiencing a surge in exchange rate in the last few weeks, with June ending with above $34 billion for the first time since April.
The reserves keep increasing in July, hitting multiple highs that have now culminated in highest reserve in the last year.
