The Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, stated that the country is not utilizing its foreign reserves to support the naira.
He made this statement while attending the International Monetary Fund-World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington DC on Wednesday.
Cardoso said $600m came into Nigeria’s reserves account within the last two days.
In recent weeks, the naira has appreciated by over 40%, strengthening from around N1,900/$ to approximately N1,000/$1. However, despite this naira rebound, Nigeria’s foreign reserves have been declining, reaching about $32.29 billion on April 15, marking the lowest level in over six years.
Cardoso said, “What you’ve seen with respect to the shift in our reserves is normal in any country’s reserves where for example, debt are due and certain payment needs to tbe made, they are made because that is also part of keeping your credibility
“Other times money comes in, takes it up again, between yesterday and today, about $600m that came into the reserves account. We are looking towards a market that operats by itself, willing buyers, willing sellers and price discovery.
“The shift in our reserves has really little or nothing to do with defending naira and that is certainly not our objective.”
