
Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves declined by $1.16 billion in January 2025, reversing the $592.58 million increase recorded in December 2024.
According to figures from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the country’s foreign exchange reserves declined steadily throughout January.
Nigeria’s FX reserves stood at $40.75 billion on January 10 before falling below $40 billion on January 22 and closing at $39.72 billion by month end. This represents a 2.84 per cent drop, raising concerns about the country’s ability to meet external obligations such as debt servicing and import financing.

The decline in Nigeria’s FX reserves follows the CBN’s decision to increase dollar sales to Bureau De Change (BDC) operators to stabilise the naira. In December 2024, the apex bank resumed dollar sales to BDCs, allowing them to purchase up to $25,000 weekly from the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.
The arrangement, initially set to run until January 30, 2025, has been extended to May 30, 2025, according to a circular signed by CBN’s Acting Director of the Trade & Exchange Department, Dr W.J. Kanya.
This intervention has helped ease pressure in the parallel market, with exchange rates moving closer to the official rate. The naira, which traded at N1,535/$1 at the end of December 2024, strengthened to N1,473/$1 by January 31, gaining N60 or 3.91 per cent within the month.