THE foreign reserves have declined by $3 billion to $39.72 billion in the last 30days, analysis of the reserves movement has shown.
The reserves, which were $42.77 billion on February 3, and dropped to $39.72 billion on March 3.
Analysts said the reserves declined as imports of petroleum products and foods soared.
The level of Nigeria’s external reserves has fallen precariously low to $43.63 billion as at December 30, last year. This is the lowest level since November 2012 and a decline of 10.7 per cent from 2013’s Year to Date peak of $48.86 billion.
The continuous use of the external buffers to support the value of the naira, declining oil receipts are among the contributing factors to the depletion. However, this level of reserves is sufficient to fund an import bill of approximately seven months.
With over 50 per cent of foreign exchange utilised for the importation of fuel and food, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said the policy should focus on a comprehensive backward integration production strategy, while fast-tracking the repair of the existing refineries.
As at October 10, the reserves were at $45.3 billion, as against $46 billion in September 19, and $47 billion in August 19, data from the CBN website showed.
Further findings showed that the reserves were at $47.7 billion on July 1, and dropped to $47 billion on July 15. They also entered August 1 at $47 billion. The foreign currency reserves had five year ago, in August 2008, peaked at $68 billion before the global financial crises impacted negatively on it.
http://thenationonlineng.net/new/petrol-imports-deplete-reserves-by-3b/
