Oyedele welcomes Moody’s upgrade of Nigeria’s credit outlook to positive

The Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has welcomed Moody’s Ratings’ decision to revise Nigeria’s sovereign credit outlook from stable to positive, while affirming the country’s long-term foreign and local currency issuer ratings at B3.

Oyedele noted that the decision, announced at the weekend, reflects the tangible impact of the Federal Government’s macroeconomic and fiscal reform agenda over the past three years.

“Moody’s attributed the improved outlook to a markedly stronger external position, underpinned by sizeable current account surpluses, rising foreign exchange reserves, improved functioning of the foreign exchange market, and more effective transmission of monetary policy.

“The agency noted that Nigeria’s current account surplus is projected to widen to about 6.1 per cent of GDP in 2026, while gross external reserves have risen substantially over the past year, a build-up corroborated by Central Bank of Nigeria data showing reserves climbing to $53.30 billion as of August 26, 2026.”

According to information posted on the Minister’s X handle, “the agency also pointed to stronger-than-expected economic performance, with real GDP growth reaching 4 per cent in 2025 against earlier projections of about 3 per cent, and similar expansion anticipated through 2027, supported by non-oil sector activity and rising oil output. Headline inflation has continued to ease, falling to 15.4 per cent in July 2026 from 25.3 per cent a year earlier.

“The rating action follows FTSE Russell’s confirmation on August 27, 2026, of Nigeria’s reclassification from ‘Unclassified’ to ‘Frontier Market’ status, and comes on the heels of S&P Global Ratings’ upgrade of Nigeria to B from B- in May 2026, and Fitch’s affirmation of Nigeria at B with a…