Experts have said diaspora remittances will help reduce the pressure on the Naira and boost the economy.

A total of $10.11 billion was received by Nigerians as diaspora remittances between January and June 2022 compared to $9.23bn received in the corresponding period of 2021.

A sum of $23.3 million was recorded as remittance outflow from Nigeria, indicating a net inflow of $10.09bn in H1 2022 as against a net value of $9.99bn recorded in H2 2021 and $9.2bn recorded in the corresponding period of 2021.

An economist and former Director General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Dr Muda Yusuf, said the 9.6% increase recorded in diaspora remittances between January and June 2022 compared to the corresponding period of 2021 is good news that will among others, reduce the pressure on the Naira. While praising the Central Bank of Nigeria for encouraging diaspora flow, Dr Yusuf called for more actions to sustain the success.

"But it is still far from where we used to be before the pandemic. We must acknowledge the improvement and commend it," he said.

The lead economist and enterprise partner at SPM Professionals, Mr Paul Alaje, said: "More Nigerians should be encouraged. Mr Emefiele (Godwin) and his team should do more to ensure the diaspora remittance level increases from $10bn to about $50bn in the next 24 calendar months. That should be the target that should be set for authorities, policy makers and for all of us as Nigerians," he said.

The CBN introduced the Naira 4 Dollar scheme in 2021 to boost diaspora remittances which fell by 27.7% from $23.24bn in 2019 to $16.8bn in 2020 as a result of job losses caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The scheme offers recipients of diaspora remittances N5 for every $1 received through the CBN IMROs.