Jennifer Ugwueke
Nigeria’s external reserves have dropped to $36.34 billion as of January 28, the Central Bank revealed on Sunday.
In the latest data released by the apex bank on its website, the foreign reserves dropped by $163.6 million from $36.50billion recorded on January 21 as CBN push to meet demands from importers and parents sending their children/wards to foreign schools.
Ripples analysis also showed that year-on-year, Nigeria’s foreign reserves fell by 5.0 percent when compared to the $38.27 billion recorded on January 28.
The pressure on dollar has continued to weigh on the Nigerian economy.
CBN had highlighted the pressure during the Monetary Policy Committee Meeting (MPC) held on January 25, saying “Nigeria’s sluggish recovery and weak performance was due to the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic, foreign exchange pressures, increased costs of production, a general increase in prices, and a decline in economic activities.”
In its efforts to defend the naira and prevent the currency from the black market pressure, CBN instructed banks to prohibit Nigerian exporters who are yet to repatriate their export proceeds from banking services effective from January 31.
The apex bank also warned banks against paying Diaspora remittances in naira.
January 26, Naira falls to N480/$1 at the black market.