Nigeria’s foreign reserves drop to $30.04bn – CBN

Nigeria’s foreign reserves drop to $30.04bn – CBN
By ONU OKORIE  /   December 1, 2015  /   No Comments

Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has said the nation’s foreign reserves fell to $30.04 billion as at November 26. The bank disclosed this on its Website yesterday.
 It said that the figure dropped by seven million dollars from $30.11 billion recorded in October 26 and that $30.04 billion
 represented the ‘gross’ amount, $29.33 billion was ‘liquid’ which can be called for FOREX transaction, while $719.32 million was ‘blocked.’
According to the apex bank, the continuous pressure on the foreign exchange market is due to the rise in the internal demand for dollars.
 The CBN said that the price of crude oil at the international market stood at $44.27 per barrel as at November 30.
 It would be recalled that during the recent Monetary Policy Committee, MPC meeting held in Abuja, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele stated that the gross official reserves increased from US$29.85 billion at end-September, 2015 to $30.31 billion on 20th November, 2015.
 He attributed the increase to relative stability in the foreign exchange market which sustained supply of foreign exchange from autonomous sources as well as the effects of various administrative measures taken by the Bank.
 He also said that the average naira exchange rate remained relatively stable at both the inter-bank and Bureau-de-Change BDC segments of the foreign exchange market during the review period.
 The exchange rate at the interbank market opened at N197.00/US$ and closed at N197.00, with a daily average of N196.99/US$ between September 21 and October 30, 2015.
 At the BDC segment, the exchange rate opened at N223.50/US$ and closed at N225.00, with a daily average of N224.46/US$, representing a depreciation of N1.50k for the period.
 Emefiele who has been canvassing policy towards stimulating local production of goods and services in order to conserve reserves said that the Committee will continue to monitor developments around the Naira exchange rate, interest rates, and consumer prices, even as targeted measures are needed to channel liquidity to the key sectors of the economy
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