The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, says the nation’s external reserves have risen to $42.56 billion on October 29, up from $42.31 billion on October 24.

The apex bank posted the figure on its Website on Wednesday, stating that the figure represented 3.7 per cent increase over the previous figure.

The nation’s external reserves have continued to grow since the beginning of 2012. This development means that CBN has less than eight billion dollars to achieve its 50 billion dollars target for 2012.

Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had, in July, said there was need to build up the reserves to 50 billion dollars before December. Okonjo-Iweala, also the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, said this at a meeting with the organised private sector in Lagos. She said this would help the country to be stable in the event of any global economic recession.