By Teddy Nwanunobi
Nigeria’s external reserves received some boost by the crude oil price, as the reserves grew by 3.71 per cent, or $1.96 billion, in the last 19 days.
The external reserves, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) figures, climbed from $34.10 billion on September 1 to N35.36 billion on September 19, 2021.
The breakdown showed that, in the first eight days ended September 9, external reserves rose by $599.3 million to $34.69 billion.
It further increased in the next eight days by $666.8 million for a 19-day gain of $1.96 billion.
Nigeria will also receive $3.5 billion in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) approved by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which would help boost the country’s foreign reserves to more than $37 billion.
This increase will further assist the CBN’s ongoing efforts to protect the Naira against recent depreciation, while also satisfying all importers and Nigerians’ demand for FX.
At the last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Friday, the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, reiterated the bank’s efforts to satisfy all legitimate dollar needs while reading the communiqué of the meeting.
Emefiele also stressed that there will be no going back in dealing with illegal traders manipulating the forex market, while specifically calling out Olumide Oniwinde, owner of abokiFX.
Meanwhile, the Brent crude oil price (Nigeria’s benchmark oil price) closed last week trading at $75.34 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude ended the week at $71.97 per barrel in the United States.
Friday’s closing prices means that Brent oil recorded a weekly gain of 3.3 per cent, while US crude gained 3.2 per cent.