Foreign Reserves Increase to $34.4bn

• Foreign Reserves Increase to $34.4bn

Rising global oil prices and renewed government commitment to growing national foreign reserves have started yielding results.

The reserves rose $123.8 million to $34.4 billion, up from $34.3 billion recorded last week.

This, according to experts will further help the Central Bank sustains the ongoing forex intervention meant to stimulate growth and support ailing economic sectors.

But few others like the International Monetary Fund have said the growing uncertainty surrounding global oil market put the sustainability of forex intervention program in question going forward. Therefore, advised aggressive diversification, especially at a time when most nations are facing out fuel cars and campaigning for renewable energy.

Meanwhile, Brent crude oil rose to $63.16 a barrel on Friday following the drop in US oil inventories and Saudi Arabia push for production cuts extension until the end of 2018.

The US WTI gained 2.83 percent to $58.44 a barrel.

“The problem is as soon as prices move up it’s too easy for the US producers to add another rig or another completion crew,” said Stewart Glickman, energy equity analyst at CFRA Research in New York, “Then they increase production and you’re back where you started.”

US oil producers have consistently refused to join OPEC in stabilizing global oil prices but continued to increase rig counts and uncertainties in the oil market as investors are worried US production will offset OPEC cuts and plunge oil prices if not checked.

“U.S. fundamentals have stabilized over the last two weeks,” said Olivier Jakob, managing director at consultants Petromatrix GmbH in Zug, Switzerland.

The Naira gained N3 to N360 against the US dollar.