Sunday, December 8, 2024
Google search engine
HomeUncategorizedNigeria’s foreign reserves dip

Nigeria’s foreign reserves dip

Reports say that in spite of increase in
price of crude oil, Nigeria’s foreign reserves have recorded a steady
decline in the last three months.
 
Also despite accruals from foreign bonds
issuance, foreign reserves recorded huge decline from $47,787,183,153
billion where it was on June 22, 2018 to a “worrying” point of
$45,468,258,469 billion on Thursday, September 6.
 
The reserves took a bullish peak between
May 18 – when it was $47.799 billion, and June 21 – when it had the last
high figure of $47,784,255,384 billion, according to data obtained from
the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
 
Apart from oil which accounts for about
80 per cent of Nigeria’s foreign reserves, the federal government is
also hoping to borrow N849 billion (denomination in dollars) from the
foreign market to finance the N1.6 trillion budget
deficit.
 
Experts have blamed the continuous
decline in reserves on three factors – increased dollar supply by the
CBN to the foreign exchange market, instability in the nation’s
securities and exchange market, and the coming general elections
in the country.
 
They expressed worries that the situation
could have negative implications on the fragile growth of the economy
and consumer demand.
 
They said the decline in the external
reserves would persist in the short term as demand for the green back
grows amid the continued intervention of CBN in order to curtail the
pressure on the naira at both the I&E and BDC segments
as well as the expected increased demand by portfolio investors who
have been reported to be leaving the country ahead of the 2019 general
elections.
 
Transactions on the floor of the equities
reportedly took a bearish direction last week, with most highly
capitalised securities not left out in the price nosedive, a development
that forced market capitalisation to lose by about
N4 billion in the weeklong trading. By the close of business on Friday,
the stock market had fallen further by 0.88 per cent amid sustained
profit taking activity.
 
The All–Share Index shed 304.15 absolute
points, representing a decline of 0.88 per cent to close at 34,110.22
points. Also, the market capitalisation declined by N111 billion to
close at N12.453 trillion. The fall was ascribed
to profit-taking by investors or shareholders. LEADERSHIP Sunday
reports that Nigeria operates a relatively regulated foreign exchange
regime.
 
The CBN had intensified injection of hard
currencies into the forex market since it signed a currency swap deal
with the Peoples Bank of China to ease pressure on the Nigerian foreign
exchange market. 
RELATED ARTICLES
- Advertisment -
Pre-retirement Training

Most Popular

Recent Comments