claims a $57 billion forex influx.

According to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as of October 18, 2024, the country’s external reserves have increased to $40.2 billion.

This was revealed by Mr Muhammad Andullahi, Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, at a briefing with international investors held in Washington, DC, on the fringes of the ongoing annual meetings of the World Bank and IMF.

According to the presentation by Mr. Muhammad Andullahi, Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, the current level of reserve could support the import of products and services for 14.5 months or just goods for 18 months.

He also revealed that as of August of this year, the nation’s foreign exchange inflow was $57 billion.

He also mentioned that as of August 2024, capital imports had almost quadrupled to $6.9 billion, up from $3.9 billion in the 2023 fiscal year.

Additionally, he said that attempts to increase remittances from Nigerians living abroad were paying off, with current monthly remittances standing at $650 million.

In contrast to the $3.2 billion total yearly performance in 2023, he said that diaspora remittances had hit a record $3.5 billion.

According to him, CBN is on track to meet its monthly remittance goal of $1 billion.

He said that the CBN’s operations in the foreign exchange market have decreased to as little as 5% of market turnover.

According to him, the apex bank may occasionally interfere in the foreign exchange market, but it would ensure that the market does not grow reliant on these actions.

He went on to say that the matching mechanism will be implemented in the market starting in December and that participants would see more transparent trade where everyone could see who bought and sold what.

He went on to say that the country’s foreign exchange market had been dysfunctional for almost a decade and that what was happening was the outcome of that extended period of dysfunction.

The CBN Governor, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, responded to enquiries from investors by assuring them that the current FX administration has been designed to provide incentives that make it easy for Nigerians and investors to bring in foreign exchange.

He stated: “The issue of Nigerians’ confidence in their currency is obviously a situation where interest has increased, and we anticipate that more interest in the local instrument will occur.”

The fact that Nigerians will now be more likely to manufacture locally since it is far less expensive for them to do so than to rely on imported items is something that we feel to be significant for these entire modifications. That’s a positive thing.

After the rates were unified, those who previously sent money to Nigeria were forced to find alternative, unconventional ways to transfer their money home.

I’m talking specifically about the remittances coming from the Diaspora. This explains why the amount of inflows from that region has significantly increased.