Nigeria’s Foreign Reserves Rise to $45.099bn

• Nigeria’s Foreign Reserves Rise to $45.099bn

Nigeria’s foreign reserves continue to rise despite the drop in global oil prices and foreign direct investment.

The reserves gained $53.641 million in the last two weeks, according to the latest data from the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Prior to President Muhammadu Buhari administration, the foreign reserves dipped to $23 billion before the current administration grew the reserves by over 95 percent in the last four years. This was done during global oil glut that plunged commodity prices.

Godwin Emefiele, the Central Bank governor, said a complementary effort of both the monetary and fiscal authorities helped boost the reserves and maintain economic recovery following the 2016 recession.

The governor said, “Building on these efforts, I am delighted to note that our external reserves have risen from $23bn in October 2016 to over $45bn by June 2019. Inflation has dropped from 18.72 per cent in January 2017 to 11.40 per cent in May 2019.

“Our CBN purchasing manufacturers index has risen for 26 consecutive months since March 2017, indicating continuous growth in the manufacturing sector, as a result of measures implemented by the CBN which has improved access to raw materials and finance for manufacturing firms.

“GDP growth has risen for seven consecutive quarters following the recession, and our exchange rate has appreciated from over N525/$1 in February 2017 at the BDC window to N360/$1. With improved inflow of foreign exchange, the exchange rate has remained stable around N360/$1 for the past 27 months.”

He earlier noted that because the healthiness of Nigeria’s foreign reserves is directly proportional to the global oil market, therefore the Nigerian economy is sensitive to the unpredictable global oil market.

“Significant declines in the price of crude oil not only reduced Nigeria’s export earnings, but the nation was also subjected to higher inflation and lower growth, given our dependence on imported goods,” he had said.

Still, the rising foreign reserves have not done much to lure back foreign investors that are abandoning Nigerian assets for other nations, the Nigerian Stock Exchange continues to drop even after the general elections. The year-to-date loss has risen to over 10 percent.