Nigeria’s foreign reserves rise to $34.49bn

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Wednesday put the nation’s foreign exchange reserves at $34.49 billion (N5.74 trillion) as at January 5.

Tthe CBN posted the foreign exchange reserves data on its website.

According to the bank, the figure represents an increase of 20 million dollars (N3.36 billion) from the $34.47 billion (N5.79 trillion) recorded on December 31, 2014.

The bank said that the $34.49 billion (N5.74 trillion) represented the ‘gross’ amount while $33.52 billion (N5.63 trillion) was ‘liquid’ and $975 million (N163.8 billion) ‘blocked’.

NAN reports that the Federal Government had through fiscal policies made attempts since 2013 to shore up the foreign reserves to 50 billion dollars (N9.05 trillion).

The CBN had in 2014 relied heavily on external reserves to support the naira which came under pressure following falling international prices of crude oil.

Crude oil prices at the international market have continued to rally between $55 and $60 per barrel since December, 2014.

According to the CBN, the continuous pressure on the foreign exchange market was also attributable to the rise in the internal demand for the dollar.

Godwin Emefiele, the CBN governor, had earlier said that the country had spent huge assets from the foreign reserves in ensuring that the official exchange rate was maintained at its previous value of N155 to a dollar.