Nigeria’s foreign reserves fall to 3-month low

The Nigerian foreign exchange reserves fell to a three-month-low of $30.04 billion on November 26, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The reserves, which fell by $60 million from $30.10 billion in October is the lowest the country has experienced, since a rise of $1.66 billion within June and July 2015.

According to figures released by the CBN on Monday, the reserves were down 18.6 percent on the year from $36.9 billion in the same period in 2014.

The country’s dollar reserves began to plunge with respect to a fall in crude oil prices, and the apex bank’s initial decision to defend the naira on and off the parallel market.

The apex bank’s decision to defend the naira through selling dollar to the parallel market on a weekly basis made the reserves fall to $30.69 billion in September – a short fall from $31.63 billion on the figures from August – and 22.42 percent less than it was in September 2014.

In October however, the CBN shifted the naira peg from 197.96 to 197, following a fall of over a billion dollars in reserves within the month.

Bureau de change operators who get a weekly sale of over $80m from the CBN at interbank rate have said dollar scarcity is weakening the naira at the parallel market, as the apex bank withheld such sales.