Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said the country’s foreign reserves has increased by $1.5bn to $44.73bn.
The value has risen from a value of $43.041bn in December 17, 2018 to $43.047bn as of January 9, 2019.
Emefiele said a steady rise has been maintained in foreign reserves recently according to records.
“We introduced a demand management approach in order to conserve our reserves.
“In this regard, we analysed our import bill, and encouraged manufacturers to consider local options in sourcing their raw materials, by restricting access to foreign exchange on 41 items, which we later increased to 43 items,” he said.
Emefiele revealed that fluctuations in oil prices led to the nation’s previous decline in foreign reserves due to Nigeria’s status as an oil producing state.
“Significant declines in the price of crude oil not only reduced Nigeria’s export earnings, but the nation was also subjected to higher inflation and lower growth, given our dependence on imported goods,” he said.