Nigeria’s diaspora inflow increases to $600m monthly – CBN Governor Cardoso

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, has said that diaspora remittance inflow into the country increased from $200 million to $600 million monthly.

He disclosed this at the Delta State–Brazil Business and Investment Roundtable on Thursday in São Paulo, Brazil.

According to him, following the apex bank’s policies, the country’s exchange rate is becoming more competitive.

He said critics laughed at the CBN when it began rolling out reforms to ensure that diaspora inflows became a potential source of diversifying Nigeria’s foreign exchange inflows.

He added that Nigerians in the diaspora were now more confident in FX remittance channels, which is part of the reason for the surge in inflow.

“When we started looking at diaspora flows as a potential source of diversifying our foreign exchange flows, people laughed, and we found that we started off at about $200 million every month.

“In the last two months, the last count, we had reached $600 million per month. And by next year, we anticipate we will be getting at least $1 billion from our diaspora folks at home,” he stated.

Recently the naira appreciated against the dollar on Thursday to close at N1,535.47 amid a sustained rise in external reserves, which stood at $41.24 billion, according to CBN data.