Nigeria’s foreign Exchange Reserves hit 4-Year high of $48.5 billion

Nigeria’s foreign reserves rose 37.9 percent year-on-year to $48.5 billion by March 20, its highest level in more than four years, driven largely by increased earnings from crude oil and gas exports, latest central bank data showed on Thursday.

The forex reserves of Africa’s second biggest economy stood at $35.1 billion a year ago and were last seen at the March levels on 26 January 2009 when hit $50.6 billion.

The central bank said energy related taxes also helped push reserves higher and that at the current levels, the dollar-based buffer can cover more than 13 months of imports.