The nation’s foreign exchange reserves fell month-on-month by $1.609 billion to ebb at $44.380 billion in September, down from the $45.989 billion gross earnings in the corresponding date of August this year.
The latest data on the nation’s Foreign Reserves position from the Central Bank of Nigeria showed that the gross and liquid foreign reserves stood at $44.380 billion and $43.659 billion on September this year.
On the same date in August, both stood at $45.989 billion and $45.266 billion respectively.
A further analysis of the foreign reserves trend indicated that the level has been consistently declining over the 30-day period, despite higher oil prices at the international oil market which should have impacted positively on the accruals.
For instance, in the last week of August, the reserves which stood at $45.989 billion on August 27 dropped to $45.945 billion on August 28, $45.909 billion on August 29, down to $45.874 billion on Agust 30 and $45.838 billion on August 31, 2018.
In the last week of September, the accruals showed that the reserves stood at $44.610 billion on September 24, then declined to $44.529 billion the following day, dipped further to $44.458 billion on September 26 before dropping finally to $44.380 billion.
A cursory appraisal of the figures showed that the reserves have been dropping by the day from July this year.
However, when analysed on year-on-year basis, the reserves have shown remarkable growth as the gross reserves stood at just $32.372 billion on September 2017, indicating an improved accruals totalling $12.008 billion in the 12-month period.
Analysts attribute the recent shrinking in the foreign reserves level to increasing demand for forex by users and the recent bilateral currency pact between the CBN and Peoples Bank of China (PBoC), which requires the constant conversion of dollars to Revimbi to meet importers’ demand.
The CBN stated in the report that the evolution of the forex market in the country had been influenced by sundry factors, including the changing pattern of international trade, institutional changes in the economy and structural shift in production.
