The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, has announced that Nigeria has received a fresh inflow of $600 million into the country’s foreign reserves.
This development is expected to contribute to further appreciation of the Naira, potentially lowering it below N1,074 per Dollar at the official market in the near future.
Cardoso made this disclosure during the International Monetary Fund’s spring meetings in Washington, D.C, on Wednesday.
The CBN governor clarified that the recent changes in the country’s reserves were unrelated to efforts to support the Naira in the foreign exchange market.
Speaking about the inflow, Cardoso stated, “In the next couple of days, I think between yesterday and today, we had about $600 million into the reserves account, so I wouldn’t let people get too excited about it. That’s where we’re going. So the shifts you’ve seen in our reserves have nothing to do with defending Naira.”
However, he emphasized that the central bank’s primary focus is to facilitate the independence of the foreign exchange market, allowing market forces to determine currency values.
“It is not my intention to defend the Naira. We’re pushing the markets to a willing buyer / willing seller price discovery. And ultimately, I perceive a future where the central bank will not need to intervene,” Cardoso added.
Highlighting the importance of market liquidity, he mentioned that the recent FX sales by the CBN were part of efforts to bolster the Bureau de Change sector.
Earlier reports indicated that Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves were at $32.29 billion as of April 15. With the additional $600 million inflow, the external reserves are expected to increase to approximately $33.49 billion.