Nigeria’s external reserve can cushion 15 months of importation— Cardoso

The Governor of the Central bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, on Tuesday, said Nigeria has enough funds in its foreign reserve to last 15 months of importation of goods.

Mr Cardoso, who appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Banking Regulations, said the funds in the reserve could import 12 months of goods and services, noting that if it’s only importation of goods, it would last 15 months.

The CBN boss noted that Nigeria has N$39.12 billion in its reserve.

According to him, the funds rose from US$34.70 billion at the end of June 2024.

“The reserves rose by 12.74% to US$39.12 billion as of October 11, 2024, from US$34.70 billion at the end of June 2024, driven largely by foreign capital inflows, receipts from crude oil-related taxes and third-party. In Q2 2024, we maintained a current account surplus and saw remarkable improvements in our trade balance.

“The current external reserve position can finance over 12 months of import of goods and services, or 15 months of goods only. This is substantially higher than the prescribed international benchmark of 3.0 months, reflecting a robust buffer against external shocks,” he said.

Speaking on the current inflationary pressure, Mr Cardoso disclosed that CBN will continue to operate tightened monetary policy to address inflation.

He stated that the MPC decided to increase the interest rate in September in anticipation of the planned petroleum price increment.

It would be recalled that the government recently increased the price of petrol to N1030 per litre in NNPC Limited-owned filling stations.

“The MPC further tightened the policy rate in its September meeting in anticipation of an uptick in inflation due to the upward adjustment of the petroleum pump price,” he said.

The lawmakers and the Governor later went into an executive session to deliberate.