Figures from the Central Bank of Nigeria show a $520.22 million decline in Nigeria’s external reserves over a five-week period.
The data on movement in reserves from CBN indicates that the reserves, which were at $33.396 billion as of October 31, 2023, dropped to $33.004 billion as of December 7, 2023.
Earlier, the CBN disclosed that the reserves, starting at $37.07 billion on January 3, 2023, reduced to $33.237 billion as of September 29, 2023.
Recently, at the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria’s 58th Annual Bankers’ Dinner and Grand Finale of the Institute’s 60th anniversary in Lagos, the Governor, CBN, Olayemi Cardoso, highlighted the continuous decline in Nigeria’s crude oil production and how it has weakened economic diversification.
He also mentioned the impact of high inflation on asset quality and solvency ratios within the banking system and the significant risk posed by the persistent naira depreciation on domestic banks with foreign exchange exposures.
However, he expressed optimism about the anticipated positive impact of measures like the removal of petrol subsidy and the adoption of a floating exchange rate, which are expected to enhance investor confidence, attract capital inflows, stimulate domestic investment, and ultimately improve the level of external reserves.
Meanwhile, former CBN governor, Lamido Sanusi, attributed the continued foreign exchange crisis to the opacity of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company’s earnings from crude oil sales.