By Abiola Olawale
Nigeria’s financial landscape has reached a significant milestone as the country’s external reserves officially crossed the $54 billion threshold for the first time since December 2008.
​According to the latest data released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), gross external reserves climbed to $54.08 billion.
This performance underscores a sustained period of recovery and stronger foreign exchange buffers for Africa’s largest economy.
The latest figure represents an increase of about $1.42 billion from the $52.66 billion recorded on August 19, according to recent CBN data.
The reserves have gained about $8.52 billion from the $45.56 billion recorded on January 2, representing an increase of 18.7 percent in over eight months.
It crossed the $53 billion mark on August 24, reaching $53.11 billion, before rising to $53.30 billion on August 26, data shows.
The upward movement continued to $53.51 billion on August 28 and $53.81 billion on August 31.
In September, reserves rose from $53.90 billion on September 1 to $53.99 billion on September 2 before reaching $54.08 billion on September 3, according to the data.
The latest position is about $3.04 billion above the CBN’s projection of $51.04 billion for external reserves by the end of 2026.
In August, Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the CBN, attributed the increase in reserves to stronger foreign-exchange inflows, including receipts from crude-oil-related taxes and third-party inflows.
The surge in foreign reserves has impacted the foreign exchange (FX) market, with the naira appreciating to N1,315/$ at the official market on Thursday, the strongest performance in two years.
