Nigeria’s forex reserves rise 1.85% to $36.3 bln by Jan 14 ~CBN

By Samuel Bankole

Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves rose 1.85 percent year-to-date to $36.30 billion by January 14 from $35.64 billion as of January 4, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) latest data showed. 

The country’s foreign reserves closed last year down by 8.39 percent year-on-year to $35.35 billion against $38.59 billion it closed on December 31, 2019. 

The regulatory bank did not provide reason for the increase in the country’s forex reserves in the new year.

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Currency dealers said the CBN has resumed dollar sales on the foreign exchange window both at the NIFEX and the bureau de change segments of the market.

However, some analysts said the increase in the forex buffer might be due to the likely disbursement of part of the $1.5 billion facility received from the World Bank toward the end of last year.

The World Bank had last December approved Nigeria’s request for $1.5 billion credit facility to plug part of the 2020 budget deficit.

The naira fell to N475 to the dollar on the parallel market on Friday from N470 a dollar previously while it remained unchanged at  N394.67 to the dollar on the Investors’ and Expoters’ window.