Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves stood at $34.82 billion as of November 29, up nearly 3 percent from a month earlier, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) data showed yesterday.

The apex bank did not provide a reason for the increase in reserves, which stood at $33.89 billion at the same date last month. Analysts point out that improving oil prices as well as CBN’s forex measures have played a key role in building up the reserves.Nigeria’s forex buffer has climbed 40.5 percent this year from a year ago, but is still far off a peak of $64 billion hit in August 2008. CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, recently disclosed that the regulator was projecting that the reserves will hit $40billion by the end of 2018.