By Simon Akoje
Two economists have commended the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for ensuring that the external reserves rebound to $50.04 billion inspite of debt servicing obligation and contending with global uncertainty.
They gave this commendation in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, on Monday.
NAN recalls that Nigeria’s gross external reserves was recorded to have climbed to a record $50.04 billion on June 5, 2026, reinforcing investor confidence and boosting the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) capacity to support the local currency.
The latest reserve level slightly surpassed the previous peak of $50.03 billion recorded on March 11, 2026, according to data published on the CBN website, marking a fresh high in the country’s external buffers.
Prof. Patrick Utomi, Co-founder, Lagos Business School, commended the Apex bank for raising the reserves to this height.
“Although the country’s external reserves has increased regardless of the shocks, the government could do more in this regard, considering our immense business prospects and the economic depth that we possess,” Utomi said.
He stressed that besides increasing the reserves, the government should be more innovative in tackling the insecurity challenges negating investment inflows.
“Our constitution should be amended to enable the subnationals to establish state police to check societal ills,” Utomi said.
He emphasised that the government should invest more in mechanised agriculture and the various business clusters in the value chain.
“They should also initiate policies that will compensate farmers whose produce were damaged and offtake produce to prevent glut.
“This will enable our country to attain self-sufficiency in food produce and associated raw materials for production, which will in turn accelerate economic growth,” Utomi said.
Similarly, Prof. Tunde Adeoye, Lecturer of Economics at the University of Lagos, commended the Apex bank for increasing the reserves.
“The accretion of the reserves to $50.04 billion inspite of executing debt servicing obligation indicates adequate liquidity being an import-dependent economy.
“The buffer is likened to a shock absorber and an importation cover for goods and services for over ten months,” Adeoye said.
He emphasised that since macro-economic stability had been improved upon, the government should do more in enhancing the micro-environment.
“The Apex bank should reduce the lending rate to enable commercial banks give business-friendly loans to the productive sectors.
“Particularly, the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) sectors because of the key role they play in accelerating growth and developing the general economy,” Adeoye said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
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