Foreign Reserves Increase by 50% in 2017

• Foreign Reserves Increase by 50% in 2017

The rebound in global oil prices bolstered foreign reserves by more than 50 percent in 2017, according to the data released by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The foreign exchange reserves hit $38.73 billion on December 28, 2017, bringing its total gain between December 2016 and December 2017 to $12.9 billion. Indicating that since OPEC and non-OPEC reached agreement to stabilize global oil prices and Federal Government maintained relative stability in the Niger Delta region, the nation has been able to up oil production level and tap into rising global oil prices.

According to the report, the foreign reserves gained $3.8 billion from $34.9 billion recorded on November 30, 2017, to $38.7 billion on December 28, 2017. Meaning the reserves jumped 10 percent in the last month of the year.

The surged in foreign reserves will further boost market sentiment and aid central bank’s efforts at converging foreign exchange rates through forex intervention.

The CBN spokesman, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, said: “with the sustained forex interventions by the central bank, the apex bank had pushed forex demand from the parallel market into the formal regulated market.”