Nigeria’s external reserves, which, on Monday, declined for the first time since August 24, dropped further to $41.76billion on Wednesday from $41.78billion on Tuesday, latest data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed yesterday. Since they slipped to $33.39billion on August 24 from $33.43billion on August 23, the nation’s external reserves had increased steadily on the back of the $3.35 billion that Nigeria received as its share of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) $650bilion Special Drawing Rights (SDRs)-about SDR 456 billion- allocation which came into effect on August 23, as well as the $4billion that the country raised through Eurobonds in September, to hit $41.83billion on October 29. Before August 24, the nation’s external reserves had been dropping due to the sharp drop in the price of oil(the commodity that accounts for 90 per cent of the country’s export earnings) and the impact of the Covid-19 crisis. Analysts note that despite oil prices rising above $80 per barrel in recent weeks, the CBN’s interventions in the Investors and Exporters’ (I&E) forex window may be negatively impacting the external reserves.
