The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has explained why the country’s external reserve has continued to decline in the last few months.
Figures from the bank revealed that the external reserves fell by $1.46 billion between January and March. The reserves ended February 27, 2023 at $36.67 billion.
The CBN’s data showed that the reserves, which stood at $36.99 billion as of the end of January, 1, 2023, fell to $35.53 billion as of the end of March, 30, 2023.
At the last Monetary Policy Committee in Abuja in March, the Governor of CBN, Godwin Emefiele, attributed the decline in the external reserves to the fall in crude oil price.
Emefiele said, “The committee, however, noted the marginal decline in the level of gross external reserves to $36.13 billion in February 2023, from $36.4 billion in January 2023, a decrease of 0.7 per cent, reflecting the downtrend in crude oil prices, as global uncertainties persist.”
According to the CBN data, Nigeria’s external reserves fell by $3.43 billion in 2022, from $40.52 billion as of the end of December 31, 2021, to $37.09 billion as of the end of December 29, 2022.
