Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves shed about $1.31 in February due to appreciation of the naira.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said the reserves declined from $39.72 billion on January 31, 2025, to $38.42 billion on February 28, 2025.

The drop represents 3.3 per cent in February.

The data from the apex bank revealed that the drop is slightly higher than that of January 2025.

The reserves went down by $1.16 billion in January 2025.

This is as the naira has shown strength against the dollar in recent weeks hovering around N1,500/$.

The statistics showed that reserves stood at $39.6 billion on February 3rd from $39.72 billion it was at the end of January.

The governor of the CBN, Yemi Cardoso has insisted that naira gaining stability is far more important than the amount it exchanges for.

He has said: “Our ability to close those gaps and ensure that we have a system that is more open, more transparent.

We also brought into play the be-matching system, whereby there is more open transparency concerning the buying and selling of foreign exchange. The differential in rates between the BDCs and the official rates has come down to less than one per cent.”

The naira moved to N1,540 from N1,620/$, reflecting a 7.41 per cent appreciation in recent weeks hovering around.