Reserves held by banks in Côte d'Ivoire at the regional central bank exceeded the required minimum by 1,760.4bn FCFA (€2.68bn) in the maintenance period to September 15, 2026, down from 2,661.2bn FCFA (€4.06bn) in the period to April 15, the BCEAO said in its monthly statistics bulletin published November 6. Banks held 2,333.1bn FCFA (€3.56bn) against required reserves of 572.7bn FCFA (€873mn).
Analysis: Ivorian banks still hold about four times the reserves they must, but the cushion is shrinking. The surplus fell 34% from its April peak and 16% in the latest period alone, faster than the 27% drop across the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), by our calculation. That returns it to near its October 2025 level of 1,700.3bn FCFA (€2.59bn). At the same time, interbank loan volumes in Côte d'Ivoire rose 36.5% from July to an average of 313.9bn FCFA (€479mn) a week in September. The BCEAO gave no reason for the decline. Its October bulletin, due in early December on its usual schedule, should show whether the drawdown continues.
Source: BCEAO (regional central bank, Dakar), BCEAO, Bulletin mensuel des statistiques – septembre 2026 (published November 6, 2026), Maintenance period 16/8/26 – 15/9/26 and Maintenance period 16/8/26 – 15/9/26 (previous: 16/7/26 – 15/8/26: 2,096,042; 16/6/26 – 15/7/26: 2,326,645; 16/9/25 – 15/10/25: 1,700,306) and Maintenance period 16/3/26 – 15/4/26 and Maintenance periods 16/8/26 – 15/9/26 and 16/3/26 – 15/4/26 and September 2026 (weekly average); July 2026 comparison