• Gains $2.834bn In 3 Weeks
Nigeria’s external reserves recorded one of its most significant jumps this year, when it soared by a princely $2.834bn or 8.11% in just three weeks, when it closed December 21, 2017 at $37.78bn, from $34.945bn at the end of November 2017, according to data available on the website of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Friday.
Month-on-Month, the nation’s reserves level soared by $3.35bn or 9.73% from $34.429bn on November 21, 2017; while Year-to-Date (YTD), it rose $11.936bn or 46.18% from $25.843bn on December 31, 2016.
Year-on-Year, Nigeria’s reserves level jumped $12.47bn or 49.27% from $25.309bn on December 21, 2016.
Data gleaned from the CBN’s website, month-on-month, by Investdata Research showed that the last time the nation’s reserves rose higher was in February, when it stood at $29.646bn on February 28, 2017, after climbing by $3.803bn or 14.72% from $25.843bn at the end of January.
Investdata Research also note that the reserves growth slowed down in March and was flat in the following month, before dropping in May and June, first to $30.329bn from $30.864bn in the preceding month; and then $30.288bn in June.
Growth thereafter commenced slowly between July and November, before attaining its new peak, which according to Mrs. Patience Oniha, Director-General of Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO), may have resulted from sources besides the regular inflow of funds from portfolio investments and earnings from crude oil and other non-oil export proceeds, which are warehoused by the CBN.
Addressing Nigeria’s capital market community on Wednesday in Lagos, at the listing of the $3bn Eurobond and $300m Diaspora bond for trading on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mrs. Oniha said the latest borrowing from the international capital markets would besides helping the Federal Government restructure its mix of foreign and domestic debts, reducing debt servicing costs, also “supports Nigeria’s foreign reserves and the private sector.”