The Federal Government has welcomed Moody’s Ratings’ decision to revise Nigeria’s sovereign credit outlook from ‘stable’ to ‘positive’, describing the move as external validation of the Tinubu administration’s macroeconomic and fiscal reforms.
The Federal Ministry of Finance disclosed this in a statement issued on Saturday, August 29, 2026, following Moody’s announcement on Friday, August 28, and signed by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele.
Moody’s affirmed Nigeria’s long-term foreign and local currency issuer ratings at B3 while revising the country’s outlook to positive, citing improvements in its external position, foreign exchange market, reserves and monetary policy transmission.
The rating action comes after several years of economic reforms by the Federal Government, including the removal of the fuel subsidy, exchange-rate unification and tax reforms.
The Federal Government said Moody’s decision reflects the progress made in strengthening Nigeria’s external position, with the ratings agency pointing to current account surpluses, rising foreign exchange reserves, improved functioning of the foreign exchange market and more effective monetary policy transmission.
“
Moody’s positive outlook is an important external validation of the difficult but necessary reforms this administration has implemented, from removing a costly and inequitable fuel subsidy to unifying the exchange rate, and the landmark tax reforms,
” Oyedele said.
Oyedele added that the government’s medium-term objective is to place Nigeria on a path towards investment-grade status, which would require further improvements in domestic revenue mobilisation, spending efficiency and debt affordability.
“
Our medium-term ambition is to place Nigeria firmly on the path to investment grade. That will require us to sustain the external gains Moody’s has recognised, while making faster progress on domestic revenue mobilisation, spending efficiency, and debt affordability,”
the Minister said.
Nairametrics had earlier reported that Moody’s has revised Nigeria’s sovereign outlook to ‘positive’ from ‘stable’, because of what it described as stronger foreign exchange reserves and better-than-expected economic growth as factors improving the country’s ability to withstand external shocks.
The latest ratings action comes shortly after a series of positive developments involving Nigeria’s international market standing.
On August 27, global index provider FTSE Russell
confirmed that Nigeria would be reclassified from ‘Unclassified’ to ‘Frontier Market’ status, with the change taking effect from the open of trading on September 21, 2026.
The development marked Nigeria’s return to the global Frontier Market universe nearly three years after it was excluded from the classification over challenges around foreign exchange execution and capital repatriation.
The Moody’s action also follows S&P Global Ratings’ upgrade of Nigeria to B from B- in May 2026, while Fitch Ratings affirmed Nigeria at B with a stable outlook.
Taken together, the developments point to a more favourable assessment of Nigeria’s reform trajectory by major international ratings agencies and global market institutions.
The positive outlook comes against the backdrop of improving economic growth and stronger external buffers. Nairametrics earlier reported that Nigeria’s real GDP grew by 3.89% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, driven largely by growth in the agriculture and services sectors.
Nigeria’s external position has also strengthened significantly.
Foreign exchange reserves crossed $53 billion for the first time
in more than 17 years, reaching $53.11 billion as of August 24, 2026, after rising by $7.09 billion since the start of the year. The latest reserve level has also surpassed the Central Bank of Nigeria’s projection of about $51.04 billion for the whole of 2026.
A positive outlook from Moody’s does not constitute an immediate credit-rating upgrade. Rather, it signals that the agency sees scope for an improvement in Nigeria’s credit profile if the recent gains are sustained.
Follow the story
