March 13 (Lagos) - Nigeria foreign reserves have risen to its highest levels in 4 years, reaching $46 billion on Friday, data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revealed.
Despite increased FX interventions in the first 3 months of 2018, with year-to-date intervention of ca $2.57 billion, the growth in reserve level was attributed to the rise in FX inflows through the Investors and Exporter FX (I&E FX) window, with turnover of $35.16 billion since inception last April and the proceeds of the $2.5 billion Euro-bond issuance in February 2018.
With global oil prices still above the nation's budget benchmark of $45 pb and production at an average of 1.786 million barrels per day in 2018, we anticipate a continuous rise in reserve levels towards the $50 billion mark, improved import cover of ca 10 months and boost confidence of the CBN to maintain the nation's current FX rate stability and liquidity.