Nigeria has recorded a historical increase in its foreign exchange reserves which on Tuesday rose to $41.00 billion.
This, according to figures published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on its website, is the highest level of increment recorded in 44 months, particularly since December 3, 2021.
It reportedly showed the steady external accretion witnessed in recent weeks.
The reserves increased with about $1.46 billion on a month-to-date basis from $39.54 billion recorded on the 1st pf August to $41.00 billion by 19 August.
The development which represents a 3.69% growth in less than three weeks was attributed to the consistent transactions across trading days, with only marginal pauses.
As further explained by Nairametrics, the build-up began in earnest from early August, when reserves crossed the $40 billion threshold on 7 August, after closing July below $39.4 billion.
From there, the pace of accretion quickened: reserves advanced to $40.5 billion by 12 August and crossed $41 billion just a week later.
On average, the country’s reserves have grown by roughly $81 million per day in August, reflecting improved FX inflows relative to outflows.
This sharp climb underpins the CBN’s ability to stabilise the naira in the official market, manage liquidity, and defend against speculative pressure.
On a year-to-date basis the FX reserves showed more modest gains as it opened the year at $40.88 billion on 31 December 2024.
At the latest print of $41.00 billion, this translates to an increase of about $124 million or 0.30%.
In other words, most of the 2025 gains have been concentrated in the past five weeks, following a relatively subdued first half of the year.
The $41 billion recorded reportedly puts Nigeria in its strongest external reserve position since late 2021.
The recent improvement is significant given the prolonged drawdowns that followed through 2022 and 2023, when reserves struggled to hold above $38 billion.
Safiu Kehinde is a Graduate of Mass Communications. He is passionate about accurate reporting and interested in investigating socio-political issues.
