The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that the country’s foreign reserves rose by $140.9m from $35.67bn as of September 1 to $35.81bn as of September 17, as the latest figure.
The reserves, as stated, rose by $65m from $35.59bn as of August 20 to $35.66bn as of August 27.
It had earlier lost $278.91m from $35.87bn on July 29 to $35.59bn on August 19 after which it returned to a growth path.
According to CBN as noted in its economic monthly report for May, the performance of the external sector continued to be undermined by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent partial lockdown of economies globally.
The report read in part, “Thus, aggregate foreign exchange inflow, capital importation and external reserves of the Nigerian economy declined by 43.2 per cent, 21 per cent and 0.7 per cent to $5.52bn, $0.25bn and 36.19bn in May 2020, below their respective levels in the preceding month.”
CBN continued that the trade sector recorded a surplus of $0.10bn due to the significant contraction in imports.
“The average exchange rate at the inter-bank, the Bureau de Change segment, and the Investors and Exporters window were N361.00/$, N443.33/$ and N386.25/$, respectively, in the review month.”
During the last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, CBN explained that the country’s exchange rate was still being affected by volatility in crude oil prices.
