Abuja, Nigeria — The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that the country’s foreign reserves have reached $55 billion, marking the strongest position in 18 years. CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso disclosed the milestone while briefing journalists following the conclusion of the apex bank’s 307th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.
Cardoso attributed the significant improvement in Nigeria’s external position to sustained efforts by the central bank to strengthen its reserves. He emphasized that the stability of the foreign exchange market represents a key achievement for the institution, describing the shift from previous volatility to current market stability as his "proudest moment."
“My proud moment, stability from a situation of great volatility to one where the market is stable. You can plan, you can project, the external position is not 5, 10 years, 15 years, it’s 18 years better than it has been. This is a big deal, the numbers speak for themselves,” Cardoso said.
The announcement of the reserve figures coincided with a significant monetary policy decision. During the same 307th MPC meeting, the CBN reduced the benchmark interest rate to 23 percent, down from the previous rate of 26.5 percent.
The development underscores a broader trend of improving macroeconomic indicators in Nigeria, with the central bank highlighting the reliability of the current external position for economic planning and projection.
<small>Source: Daily Post Nigeria — read the original story there.</small>
