Nigeria's external reserves rose by 2.45 per cent in January to $45.43 billion as at January 23, 2013 according to data on the website of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Reserves which had grown by 34.76 per cent last year to over $44 billion continued its upward trend as oil prices rise at the international market.

Although it fell short of the $50 billion target of the government, analysts had predicted that the reserves would continue to rise this year on improved oil market conditions and currency stability.

The Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Finance Minister, Dr Ngozi Okonwo-Iweala had last year noted that the federal government would meet its set target of building the country's external reserves to $50 billion by the end of 2012. At the time of that declaration, the country's reserve stood at $36.37 billion.

"There is a lot of global uncertainty, and in that respect we still need to make sure that we build sufficient buffers to protect us. If anything should happen, we don't have enough in our excess crude account or the reserves to save us. So we need to turn this around and build buffers sufficient to take care of the country of the entire country for three months", the minister had said.