Olusola Bello
The Central Bank of Nigeria,says the country’s external reserves maintained a downward trend as it lost $905.5m in June, this year.
The apex bank said the reserves fell to $33.32bn as of the end of June 30 from $34.23bn on May 31.
The reserves stood at $34.88bn at the end of April 30.
Observers have advocated the need for the government to attract more foreign direct investment into the country and stimulate domestic production to attract more foreign exchange and reduce the demand on forex for importation.
At the last Monetary Policy Committee meeting, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, while speaking on the decline in external reserves, said, “This reflects sales to the foreign exchange market and third-party payments.”
The CBN, in its January economic report, said, “As a consequence of the lower foreign exchange receipts, the official external reserves declined. External reserves stood at $35.44bn at the end-January 2021, a decrease of 2.8 per cent and 3.5 per cent from $36.46bn in December 2020 and $36.73bn in January 2020.”
