Forex pressure mounts as Nigeria’s reserves slide in April

Nigeria’s foreign reserves dropped by about $731 million in the first three weeks of April 2026, showing continued pressure on the country’s supply of foreign currency.

Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria shows that reserves fell from $49.18 billion on April 1 to $48.45 billion by April 23. This means the country lost an average of about $233 million per week during that period.

The decline continues a recent trend and highlights the challenge authorities face in managing the exchange rate, meeting external payments, and maintaining enough foreign currency in the system.
The biggest drop happened earlier in the month:
From April 1 to April 10, reserves fell from $49.18 billion to $48.81 billion.
Between April 13 and April 17, they dropped slightly from $48.72 billion to $48.62 billion.

From April 20 to April 23, the decline slowed further, moving from $48.54 billion to $48.45 billion.

This suggests that demand for foreign exchange was higher at the start of April but reduced later in the month.

The earlier drop may have been caused by the central bank selling more foreign currency and settling external debts. The slower decline later could mean fewer interventions or some improvement in inflows.

This follows a similar trend in March, when reserves fell from over $50.08 billion on March 12 to $49.61 billion by March 23.

Even with the recent drop, reserves are still higher than the same period in 2025, when they were around $37.83 billion.

Earlier in January 2026, reserves actually increased by about $509 million, showing that inflows were stronger at that time.

According to the CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, the recent decline is not a major concern.

Looking ahead, the central bank still expects reserves to rise to about $51 billion by the end of 2026 as part of efforts to stabilize the economy and strengthen confidence.