Ngozi Amuche
The country’s foreign reserves fell to $35.689bn as of the end of October, according to figures obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
CBN disclosed that the reserve, which was $35.72bn as of the end of September, lost $49.29m in four weeks.
According to the CBN, the reserves, which had continued to rise and fall in recent weeks stood at $35.67bn as of September 1 and rose to $35.81bn as of September 17.
The reserves 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.
The CBN had stated that external reserves were expected to lie between $29.9bn and $34.3bn by 2020 ending.
It said, “Sequel to the COVID-19 pandemic, the viability of the external sector in 2020 is expected to deteriorate, given the present worsening current account balance and depletion of external reserves driven, largely, by decelerating export receipts, particularly oil.
“Specifically, the degree of external reserves accumulation is expected to decelerate, as outflows are expected to outweigh inflows.”
As a result, it said, external reserves were expected to lie between $29.9bn and $34.3bn at end-December 2020 (predicated on current declining oil price between $20 and $40).