Nigeria’s external reserves, which currently stand at $35bn, are sufficient to cover seven months of imports of goods and services, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Governor, Godwin Emefiele, has said.
Emefiele made this known on Friday, November 27, during the 55th Annual Bankers Dinner organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria in Lagos state.
According to him, “Our external reserves currently stand above $35bn and are sufficient to cover seven months of import of goods and services.
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He explained further that the decline in crude oil earnings as well as the retreat by foreign portfolio investors significantly affected the supply of foreign exchange into Nigeria.
He added that the naira depreciated from N305/$ to N360/$, and subsequently to N380/$. Emefiele also said measures were being taken by the authorities to improve the non-oil exports and other sources of foreign exchange.
He added that the measures had helped to prevent a significant decline in the country’s reserves. He said: “With the decline in our foreign exchange earnings and successive exchange rate adjustments, the CBN has continued to implement a demand management framework, which is designed to bolster the production of items that can be produced in Nigeria, and aid conservation of our external reserves.
“Due to the unprecedented nature of the shock, we continued to favour a gradual liberalisation of the foreign exchange market in order to smoothen exchange rate volatility and mitigate the impact which, rapid changes in the exchange rate could have on key macro-economic variables. This we believe is in line with international best practices in countries where managed float arrangements are in operation.”
