Reserves at a 13-year high. Inflation cooling. Your costs are still rising.

Nigeria opened March with the Naira holding at ₦1,359 to the dollar, foreign reserves at a 13-year high of $49.51 billion, and inflation cooling to 15.10% for the tenth consecutive month. The CBN cut rates to 26.5% last week. These numbers are real. They represent genuine progress from 18 months ago when inflation was at 34% and the Naira was in freefall.

But here's the gap worth naming: stable reserves don't fill your generator. Inflation cooling to 15% still means everything you buy costs 15% more than last year. And this morning's ₦101 petrol spike is the reminder that the progress is fragile in ways the headline numbers don't capture.

The macroeconomic story and your daily experience are both true. They're just not the same story yet.