Nigeria’s foreign reserves advanced just at the marginal rate of 0.16 per cent or $58.464m between August 29 and September 29.
According to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria obtained by our correspondent, the reserves, whose balance stood at $35.665bn as August 29, edged up to $35.724bn by September 29.
Growth in the reserves was irregular throughout the period with a number of rises and falls in the balance, causing them to decline to $35.67bn by September 1 and again went up to $35.81bn as of September 17.
They had expanded by $65m from $35.59m on August 20 to $35.66m by August 27.
Between July 29 and August 19, they shed $278.91m, crumbling from $35.87bn to $35.59bn, but began to record increase afterwards.
Nigeria’s international reserves might stay anywhere between $29.9bn and $34.3bn by end of December, the CBN said in a report, ‘Monetary, Credit, Foreign Trade and Exchange Policy Guidelines for Fiscal Years 2020/2021.’
“Sequel to the COVID-19 pandemic, the viability of the external sector in 2020 is expected to deteriorate, given the present worsening current account balance and depletion of external reserves driven, largely, by decelerating export receipts, particularly oil.
“Specifically, the degree of external reserves accumulation is expected to decelerate, as outflows are expected to outweigh inflows,” it said.
