Nigeria’s foreign reserves have recently dipped to $32.29 billion, marking the lowest level seen in over six years.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reported this decline in its latest data on April 15, showing a drop from the recent peak of $34.44 billion recorded on March 18. This decrease amounts to $2.15 billion or 6.26%.
The recent decline ends a period of consistent growth observed between February 5 and March 18, during which the FX reserves increased by $1.28 billion.
The CBN had credited this growth to heightened remittance payments from Nigerians abroad and increased foreign investor interest in local assets, particularly government debt securities.
The current level of foreign reserves mirrors that of September 9, 2017, when the CBN reported $32.28 billion.
The drop in reserves coincides with CBN’s intervention in the parallel market aimed at stabilizing the FX rate. Beginning on February 27, the apex bank allocated $20,000 to each bureau de change (BDC) operator at the rate of N1,301/$.
Subsequent tranches of $10,000 were sold to BDCs at varying rates, with the latest tranche initiated on April 8 at N1,101/$.
Despite these interventions, the naira appreciated against the dollar in the parallel market, moving from N1,900 per dollar on February 21 to N1,100/$ on April 13. Concurrently, at the official window, the local currency strengthened to N1,136.04/$ per dollar from N1,551.24/$ during the same period.
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