Emefiele: Nigeria’s $41bn reserves highest in Africa

Governor of the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, has allayed growing fears about the implications of the coming 2015 general elections for the country’s economy.

According to Emefiele, who was speaking in New York at the Africa Business Summit themed Africa is rising, There are challenges, Still We Rise, Nigeria currently has a reserve of about $41bn, which is the highest on the continent.

Dismissing predictions of an impending crash in crude oil prices and a consequent drop in revenue, he said the current reserve has the potential to support imports and production for the next seven to eight months.

“Nigeria’s economy is doing very well and 2015 will not be different,” he said.

“People, generally, are expecting that crude prices are coming down and maybe there will be reduction in production and crude prices will fall, but Nigeria’s import reserve with a strength of seven to eight months is very comfortable.”

He revealed that the country’s foreign exchange reserves have fallen 18 per cent year-on-year, but have climbed by 3.8 per cent in July to $38.49 billion.

Also speaking in London, a deputy governor of the bank, Kingsley Moghalu, said it was unlikely that rate cuts would occur before next year’s elections.

“Right now there is lot of politicking in the air with increasing spending, but after the elections, when things are calm, then we will take a look at the landscape and see if the conditions are right,” he said.