CBN projects fall in foreign reserves
CBN Projects Drop in Foreign Reserve
Following increasing demand in Foreign and low earnings from oil, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has projected a major fall in the country’s foreign reserves to $29.9 billion by the end of 2020 citing decline in oil prices and the impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
In a report titled, ‘Monetary, Credit, Foreign Trade and Exchange Policy Guidelines for Fiscal Years 2020/2021’, the apex bank stated:
“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.
“As a result, external reserves are expected to lie between $29.9 billion and $34.3 billion at end-December 2020 (predicated on current declining oil price between $20 and $40).”
On the brighter side, the apex bank has reported a marginal increase in the reserves recording $59 million growth the total to $35.7billion as at August 29, 2020.
