Nigeria’s foreign reserve on Tuesday rose to a record high of $27.22 billion from $26.97 billion as at Friday last week, according to the data from the website of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The foreign reserves had depleted to a record low of $23.9 billion as at as October 19, 2016 driven by the sharp drop in the price of crude oil.
On The Ground (OTG) research report by Standard Chartered Bank sent to BusinessDay by Razia Khan, managing director, Chief Economist, Africa, global research, said the reduced foreign exchange sales by the CBN, or the availability of new external financing, may also have helped with the build-up of foreign reserves.
“Any change in official FX policy is likely to be delayed unless shortages of imported fuel worsen or FX reserves sharply decline. For now, Nigerian FX reserves appear to be benefiting from higher oil prices”, the report stated.
The report further said, “with Niger Delta militancy still a threat to oil output levels, however, the continued build-up of foreign reserves in Nigeria will also be watched. It is also unclear how much short-term borrowing (with a maturity of less than a year) might have boosted gross foreign exchange reserves”.
Naira on Tuesday traded stable at the various segments of the foreign exchange market. It closed at N305.25k at the inter-bank spot market, the same as on Monday.
At the parallel market, the local currency closed at N495 per dollar, while it remained at N399/$ at the Bureau De Change (BDC) segment of the market.