Foreign Reserves Shrink, Drop To Two-year Low At $39.84bn

The foreign exchange reserves have hit two-year low at $39.84 billion, an Economic Report by Financial Derivatives Company Limited, has shown.

The report also said that quarterly oil revenue could hit $15 billion at the new oil price of $68 to $69 per barrel as the market awaits Iran response to the killing of its military commander, Qassem Soleimani.

The foreign reserves level stood at $39.65 billion by November 21, 2019, compared to $40.33 billion as at end of September 2019.

The CBN data showed that the reserves were at $43.83 billion at end of December, 2012 as against $68 billion in August 2008 before the global financial crises impacted negatively on them.

The CBN had consistently maintained that inflow into the reserves was not consistent with the oil prices and, this underscores the need for tighter fiscal controls around oil revenues.

The apex bank has also said there was urgent need to pursue policies that would foster macro-economic stability, economic diversification as well as encourage foreign capital inflows.

It said a higher rate of retention of oil revenues should facilitate the efforts at maintaining exchange rate stability as an antidote to imported inflation even without excessive reliance on monetary tightening measures.