Nigeria’s External Reserves Hit $48bn

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that Nigeria’s external reserves stood at $48.76 billion (N75.57 trillion) as at April 16.

The apex bank disclosed this on its Website yesterday.

According to the CBN, the figure represented an increase of 2.54 per cent over the last figure of $48.75 billion (N75.56 trillion).

The Tide reports that the nation’s external reserves have maintained an upward trend since the beginning of 2013.

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala had in July 2012 stressed the need for Nigeria to shore up its external reserves.

Okonjo-Iweala had then said that there was the need to build up the reserves to R50 billion (N77.50 trillion) before the end of 2012.

She said that the reserves needed to be strong enough to help the country in the event of any global economic recession.

It would be recalled that Nigeria’s external reserves was $44.18 billion (N68.47 trillion) in December of 2012.

It grew to $44.34 billion (N68.72 trillion) in January of 2013, representing an increase of 2.82 per cent.