Large Foreign Reserves Don’t Mean Nigeria Is Better Off — Chike-Obi

Mustafa Chike-Obi, former Fidelity Bank chairman, says Nigeria’s $52 billion to $53 billion in foreign reserves could cost the country more than $10 billion a year. Speaking on Policy Without Politics, the podcast he hosts with Ken Ikpe, he compared the roughly 3% return on liquid assets held abroad with a naira funding cost of about 20%. He said reserves are needed to meet external obligations and reassure trading partners and lenders, and their level should be based on those payment needs rather than a bigger headline figure.