Speaking at the 2026 Monetary Policy Forum in Abuja, Olayemi Cardoso further revealed that the reforms under the policy have given rise to positive economic outcomes. He commented, “Gross external reserves increased from USD 38.34 billion in February 2025 to USD 50.12 billion in February 2026, representing a 30.73% year‑on‑year increase, the highest level recorded in 13 years. Similarly, Net External Reserves have surged from USD 3.99 billion at the end of 2023 to USD 34.80 billion at the end of 2025, representing a 772.2% increase and higher than total gross reserves in 2023.”

“This improvement was reinforced by enhanced reserve‑management practices, integration of London Bullion Market Association (LBMA)‑certified gold into the national reserves, restructuring of the external asset management framework, and the initiation of a second global custodian to improve risk diversification. When our administration assumed office in September 2023, the macroeconomic environment was marked by pronounced distortions and significant imbalances, with the economy facing heightened vulnerability and elevated stability risks,” the senior official added.

Noting that headline inflation rose to 29.9% in January 2024, reflecting sustained food price pressures, exchange‑rate pass‑through, and structural supply constraints, Cardoso continued, “Excessive monetary financing had compromised policy integrity; Ways and Means advances had climbed to 26.95 trillion naira by May 2023, far beyond statutory thresholds, weakening the monetary‑fiscal interface and eroding credibility. The foreign exchange market was severely impaired, with over USD 7.0 billion in verified FX backlogs, constraining private‑sector operations and damaging external confidence.”

“Parallel market premium widened sharply to over 60%, and the exchange-rate architecture became increasingly fragmented. External reserves were under severe pressure, with net foreign reserves dropping to as low as USD 3.99 billion at the end of 2023, while Nigeria’s balance of payments position oscillated between deficits and instability. These conditions collectively undermined the transmission of monetary policy, weakened investor sentiment, and strained the credibility of the Central Bank at home and abroad,” he remarked.

The senior official also added that with a clear understanding of the challenges, the CBN has moved on a proactive basis to implement far‑reaching, bold but necessary reforms aimed at restoring credibility, normalising policy conduct, rebuilding confidence, and stabilising the macroeconomic environment.

“The first critical step was restoring monetary–fiscal discipline. Ways and Means financing was reined-in decisively, declining from 26.95 trillion naira to 3.51 trillion naira in December 2024 and further to 2.84 trillion naira by January 2026, marking one of the sharpest fiscal consolidations in recent history,” Cardoso added, informing the media that his institution’s policy actions restored compliance with the law and strengthened central bank independence. The moves also signalled the bank’s commitment to orthodoxy and transparency to markets, with a clear message that the era of fiscal dominance had ended.

“We complemented these actions with a firm but data-driven tightening cycle. Throughout 2024, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) maintained a restrictive stance to rein in inflation expectations by raising the policy rate cumulatively by 875 basis points from 18.75% in January 2024 to 27.50% in November 2024. While the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) was kept at elevated levels for most of the year, improved inflation dynamics enabled the first policy rate cut in five years. A modest easing was carefully calibrated, with the policy rate reduced from 27.5 per cent to 27.0 per cent in September 2025, followed by a further cut to 26.5 per cent in February 2026,” he concluded.

The post As CBN stabilises Nigeria’s macroeconomy, balance of payment reaches USD 4.59 billion appeared first on International Finance.

As part of its commitment to give all eligible clients transparent access to foreign exchange, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s leadership has added a second method, the Retail Dutch Auction System (RDAS), to help with FX sales to end users.

This strategy seeks to assist in price discovery, lessen information asymmetry, and promote a more transparent market.

It is an addition to the two-way quote system that has been used in recent months to improve interbank market liquidity, allowing for the sale of over USD 305 million in foreign exchange to authorised dealers in the last three weeks.

According to a recent bank statement, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s policy goals are to support market confidence and produce observable outcomes.

Between January and June 2024, net foreign exchange flows increased by 55% year over year to USD 25.4 billion.

Record inflows of diaspora remittances through official channels and an increase in capital importation, which hit USD 6 billion in June 2024, have propelled this expansion.

There are also signs that things are getting better and more widespread in the foreign exchange market. This is because there are now more stable and diverse sources of liquidity that help keep currency rates from diverging across all market categories.

By the end of July 2024, the official market had registered a USD 43 billion turnover in client transactions, with fewer than 5% of overall market activities coming from CBN-supplied liquidity.

The CBN is unwavering in its dedication to supporting an open, competitive foreign exchange market and will keep enhancing the system’s ability to serve the interests of all eligible players.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria has also announced the reintroduction of several key economic reports, stating its commitment to transparency and accountability in the African nation’s economy.

These reports include the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), Business Expectation Survey (BES), Inflation Expectation Report, and other critical macroeconomic indicators.

According to a recent statement by the Acting Director of Corporate Communications at CBN, Sidi Ali, the move is part of the CBN’s ongoing data enhancement initiative and is designed to provide stakeholders with timely and accurate insights into Nigeria’s economic performance.

The PMI, which evaluates the health of the manufacturing, services, and agricultural sectors, along with the business and household expectations reports, are essential tools for understanding any country’s economic climate.

“These reports offer valuable insights into the perceptions and outlooks within the business and household sectors, respectively. This initiative is part of the bank’s broader efforts to enhance transparency, promote informed decision-making, and support economic growth,” the statement stated.

The reports will be periodically released on the CBN’s official website, making them accessible to the public, policymakers, and the business community. Central Bank of Nigeria also encouraged economists, analysts, investors, the media, and the general public to utilise the reports to gain a deeper understanding of Nigeria’s economic dynamics to foster a more inclusive economic discourse.

The post Central Bank of Nigeria continues to enhance foreign exchange market liquidity appeared first on International Finance.

The central bank’s acting governor Folashodun Shonubi made the above announcement after meeting President Bola Tinubu. Naira has reached a historic low following the recent dollar auction conducted by the central bank, as per a Bloomberg report.

The auction saw dollars being sold at a naira rate nearly 30% weaker than the official market rate. The action has now fuelled speculation of imminent currency devaluation, adding to the concerns raised after the inauguration of Nigeria’s new president in 2023.

Naira slipped by 0.7%, its steepest decline in nearly six months, in official trading on the Nigeria Exchange on June 2023. It eventually settled at 467.04 naira to a dollar, marking an unprecedented low point in the history of the Nigerian currency.

Nigeria’s dwindling dollar earnings and reserves, coupled with the high foreign currency demand from industries and importers, have compelled the Bola Tinubu government to manage supply and demand through multiple exchange rates. However, the ‘solution’ has led to a situation where a significant portion of the domestic population is now resorting to the black market, where the Naira is approximately 40% weaker than the official rate.

It is to be noted that President Tinubu removed the central bank’s currency controls that had kept the naira artificially high.

Nigeria’s annual inflation has risen to 24.08% in July 2023 from 22.79% in June. It is worth noting that the inflation in Africa’s biggest economy has been in double-digits since 2016, thus eroding savings and incomes, and prompting the central bank to hike interest rates to their highest level in nearly two decades.

President Bola Tinubu, since his government’s inception earlier 2023, has scrapped a popular but costly petrol subsidy, causing prices to triple, apart from ending restrictions on foreign exchange trading.

Tinubu has also pledged to establish a common foreign exchange rate to replace the official and the black-market rates. As per the analysts, the immediate reaction to these new measures has dealt a blow to the naira, sending it tumbling against the greenback.

As per the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Nigeria’s economic growth in the first quarter of 2023 stood at 2.4% on a year-on-year basis.

OPEC stated that the GDP growth pace was at 3.6% in the fourth quarter of 2022. Nigeria’s economy overall grew by 3.3% in the said year.

While predicting an economic slowdown for the African country, OPEC said that high inflation would continue to burden Nigeria’s economy.

A ‘Concerned’ Tinubu

“President Tinubu was very concerned about some of the goings-on in the foreign exchange market and its impact on the average person,” Central Bank of Nigeria’s acting boss said in his latest statement.

“We discussed what could be done to stabilise the currency, what could be done to improve the liquidity in the market and also the goings-on in the parallel market,” the official added further.

To tackle the inflation demon, the Nigerian government recently unveiled a comprehensive financial package amounting to N500 billion, while the country’s central bank lifted the key policy rate by 25 basis points to 18.75% in July 2023. However, it seems none of these moves have resulted in anything fruitful so far.

In May 2023, Stanbic IBTC Bank Nigeria Purchasing Managers Index retracted to stand at 51.7 in July, after a level of 53.2 in June was reached.

“Significant action would be taken to save the naira and speculators should expect huge losses,” the central bank’s acting governor Folashodun Shonubi warned.

The official market had been fairly stable and the spreads have not fluctuated much, the official noted.

“Any intervention by the bank would be to ensure the market operates more efficiently but also reduce the negative impact on the lives of the average person,” Shonubi said.

“We do not believe that the changes going on in the parallel market are driven by pure economic demand and supply, but are touched by speculative demand from people,” he added further.

“We believe the things we’re doing, when they come to fruition, may result in significant losses to them. We are looking at it and we’re doing things which will significantly impact the market in a few days’ time and we will all see it,” the senior official concluded.

Analysts’ Take On Nigeria Economy

The African country’s loose fiscal and monetary policies were creating excess liquidity, making it difficult for the naira to stabilize against the dollar two months after authorities allowed the currency to trade freely, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said.

“Central bank transfers to the government are increasing the naira in circulation, depressing interest rates, discouraging savings and deterring the dollar inflows that could boost naira stability,” said Ari Aisen, a resident representative for the IMF in Nigeria.

However, American investment bank and financial services giant Morgan Stanley lauded President Tinubu’s reforms to reposition Nigeria’s economy, while urging for more sound policies.

In its report titled “Tales from the Emerging World Nigeria’s New Dawn?” Morgan Stanley hailed the Tinubu-led administration for its strategic reforms to recover the dwindling Nigerian economy, while drawing a comparison with the previous administration of Muhammadu Buhari, which reportedly led Nigeria to suffer eight years of economic stagnation.

The post Nigeria to take significant action to save naira as inflation continues to haunt country appeared first on International Finance.

As per the Central Bank of Nigeria, weekly cash withdrawals had been reduced from 2.5 million Nigerian naira (USD 5,638) to 100,000 naira (USD 225).

The majority of Nigerians use unofficial markets where cash is preferred and have no bank accounts. The Central Bank of Nigeria announced that this action, which aims to increase public access to banking, will go into effect on January 9.

“The maximum cash withdrawal per week via automated teller machine shall be 100,000 naira subject to a maximum of 20,000 naira (USD 45) cash withdrawal per day,” it said.

It stated that only notes with a value of 200 naira or less would be loaded into ATMs.

The daily limit for enterprises has been reduced from three million naira (USD 6,766) to 500,000 naira (USD 1,128) each week.

“Withdrawals above these limits shall attract processing fees of 5% and 10%, respectively,” the Central Bank of Nigeria said.

However, Central Bank of Nigeria noted, under exceptional circumstances, both individuals and enterprises could withdraw up to five million naira (USD 11,277) and ten million naira (USD 22,553) per month, respectively.

The new cash restrictions, which the Central Bank of Nigeria stated were in keeping with its strategy to encourage cashless transactions.

The bank has previously voiced worries about currency forgery, the amount of money that is not inside the banking system and significant ransom payments to criminals.

Nigeria introduced new currency notes this month, another move the central bank said would help curb inflation and money laundering.

According to Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele, more than 80% of the 3.2 trillion naira (USD 7.2 billion) in circulation in Nigeria is not kept in commercial banks’ vaults but rather in private hands.

“The currency redesign will also assist in the fight against corruption as the exercise will rein in the higher denomination used for corruption and the movement of such funds from the banking system could be tracked easily,” Godwin Emefiele explained.

The post Central Bank of Nigeria limits cash withdrawals to 100,000 naira a week appeared first on International Finance.

In a press release, the central banks said, the launch, “Marks a major step forward in the evolution of money and the CBN is committed to ensuring that the e-Naira, like the physical Naira, is accessible to everyone.”

The e-Naira has the potential to boost Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by up to $29 billion over the next decade, according to the Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari.

During the unveiling of the e-Naira, he said, “Nigeria has become the first country in Africa, and one of the first in the world to introduce a digital currency to her citizens. The adoption of the central bank digital currency and its underlying technology, called blockchain, can increase Nigeria’s gross domestic product by $29 billion over the next 10 years.”

Central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele revealed during the launch that since the launch of the e-Naira platform, it has received more than 2.5 million daily visits, with 33 banks integrated on the platform, $1.2 million successfully minted and more than 2,000 customers onboarded.

Recently, it was also reported that with a population of 211 million, Nigeria’s digital currency trial is now the second-largest behind China’s digital yuan.

The post Nigeria launches Africa’s first digital currency after banning crypto exchanges appeared first on International Finance.

In 2020, Africa’s largest economy contracted because of the Covid-19 pandemic though in the fourth quarter it managed to exit its recession, a second time since 2016, and growth has now increased for three consecutive quarters. Additionally, the economy expanded by 5 percent in the second quarter of this year.

Emefiele, in a banking conference said, “With continued improvements in the economy, I am optimistic … we would end the year with an annual GDP growth of between 2.5–3.0 percent. Notwithstanding the positive news … I would admit that growth remains fragile. We are not out of the woods yet, given the challenges in combating the Covid-19 pandemic.”

For a while now, Nigeria has been crippled by low growth even before Covid-19 pandemic hit. The pandemic triggered a recession and created large financing gaps, including dollar shortages and inflation.

During the third wave of the pandemic, Nigeria started the second phase of vaccinating its 200 million citizens after it received a donation of 4 million doses of the Moderna vaccine from the U.S. government.

In June, the World Bank announced Nigeria is lagging behind in sub-Saharan growth, and it’s being made worse due to food inflation, heightened insecurity and stalled reforms slowing growth and increasing poverty.

The post Nigerian economy to grow by 3% in 2021: Central Bank governor appeared first on International Finance.

CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele said in a statement, “Project Giant, as the Nigerian CBDC pilot is known, has been a long and thorough process for the CBN, with the bank’s decision to digitise the Naira in 2017, following extensive research and explorations.

“Given the significant explosion in the use of digital payments and the rise in the digital economy, the CBN‘s decision follows an unmistakable global trend in which over 85 percent of central banks are now considering adopting digital currencies in their countries.”

The central bank further revealed that it will work with Barbados-based Bitt as a technical partner in its bid to launch its own cryptocurrency. Bitt is known for the development of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union’s DCash.

Last month, CBN issued a set of new guidelines to further regulate the Mobile Money Operators (MMO) in the country. The last time amendments were made was in 2015, since then, a lot of development has taken place when it comes to mobile money.

Now, mobile money operators in Nigeria will be able to offer savings wallets, which will be operated with settlement banks and the funds held in these wallets are insured with the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC).

The post Central Bank of Nigeria caps transfer limit for e-Naira at N50,000 appeared first on International Finance.

Now, mobile money operators in Nigeria will be able to offer savings wallets, which will be operated with settlement banks and the funds held in these wallets are insured with the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC).

The balance limits for wallet holders have been increased from N50,000 to N5,000,000 daily. For cumulative balance, the N300,000 cap has been completely removed.

Last week, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) refunded citizens nearly N82.2 billion for failed transactions.

CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele told the media, “Oftentimes, there have been sundry issues. Once we get these complaints, we investigate and if the issues are found to be true, we make sure refunds are made. As of June 2021, we have facilitated the refund of N82.2 billion to customers.”

“During the heat of the Covid-19 pandemic last year, we realised that the global economy was shut down, with families and businesses affected. The first thing CBN did was to roll out some interventions to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on livelihoods and businesses. It was a health crisis, and we needed to up our game in terms of health infrastructure,” he added.

The post Nigeria’s central bank issues new guidelines to further regulate MMOs appeared first on International Finance.

Other investors that also participated in the funding round for Kuda include Target Global, an international venture capital firm headquartered in Berlin, and several other existing investors.

With regard to the funding, Babs Ogundeyi, chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder of Kuda told the media, “At Kuda, we know that the companies which are best able to leverage technology and talent will be the same companies which are best positioned to provide huge numbers of people across Africa with access to a vastly improved financial system that places the customer at its centre. We recognise the great strides that we have taken to get to the point at which we are now, but even more importantly we recognise just how far we still have to go to achieve our objective of providing every African with access to powerful, appropriate and affordable financial services.”

“With this in mind, we could not be more pleased that Valar Ventures has decided to come on board and join us on this mission. Their insights and experience in helping advise some of the world’s most successful challenger banks will, without doubt, be a critical part of our successes going forward.”

Kuda received regulatory approval and a digital banking licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in June 2019. This made Kuda Nigeria’s first and only full-stack and mobile-first bank, allowing Nigerians to run a current account, save money, and earn annual interest.

The post Nigerian digital bank Kuda secures $25 mn Series A funding appeared first on International Finance.

The amount was injected through the BDC operators. Since  the middle of March, naira was being devalued on the back of the protracted coronavirus pandemic. In an attempt to ease the currency devaluation, the Central Bank of Nigeria adopted a single exchange rate over a multi exchange rate policy to stabilise the value of naira.

The apex bank seeks to boost the value of naira and subsequently strengthen the Nigerian economy. A few weeks ago, the World Bank reported that Nigeria’s economy necessitates stronger forex action. 

Hit by a severe shortage of dollars, the country had stalled its weekly interbank foreign exchange sales in March. The coronavirus pandemic and stringent lockdown measures across world economies have resulted in weaker oil prices, further hurting the economy. 

World Bank country director, Shubham Chaudhuri, told the media, “The Azura case is just one example of the difficulties that a number of established foreign and domestic private firms in Nigeria have had in accessing the forex to meet their business and contractual obligations.”

The post Nigeria to resume forex sales to the Bureaux de Change operators appeared first on International Finance.