Nigeria anticipates remittances from citizens living abroad to increase by two-thirds over 2026 as it seeks to bolster its foreign-exchange reserves, its central bank governor said.
“We are expecting that by the end of the year, we will hit about a billion dollars a month from diaspora remittances” from more than $600 million, Olayemi Cardoso said at an event in Lagos on Thursday.
He attributed the expected increase to the central bank’s decision to diversify its reserve base by working with banks, engaging with Nigerians abroad and addressing their concerns with the aim of doubling remittances.
“We did exactly that,” the governor said. “That is still work in progress. We’re not relenting on that. We’re continuing on that trajectory.”
Since Cardoso took over as governor in September 2023, gross foreign reserves have risen 63% to almost $52 billion, while net reserves have climbed to more than $40 billion from about $3 billion.
The governor and his colleagues will meet to review monetary policy next week and their decision on interest rates will be data dependent, he said.
Nigeria’s inflation rate unexpectedly held steady in June at 15.9%. Still, economists including Oxford Economics’ Brendon Verster expect the central bank to keep the benchmark interest rate at 26.5% when policymakers deliver their verdict on July 21. They cite renewed price pressures after the recent resumption of a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz triggered a spike in energy prices.
