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EXTERNAL RESERVES HIT $36.39BN ON IMPROVED CRUDE OIL PRICE

THE EXTERNAL RESERVES STOOD AT $36.39BN AS OF JANUARY 27, THE LATEST FIGURES FROM THE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA REVEALED. FIGURES OBTAINED FROM THE CBN SHOWED THAT THE RESERVES, WHICH COMMENCED THE YEAR AT $35.65BN, ROSE TO $36.52BN AS OF JANUARY 25, BEFORE EXPERIENCING A SLIGHT DECLINE. ON THE EXTERNAL RESERVES POSITION, THE CBN NOTED THAT THERE HAD BEEN AN INCREASE IN THE LEVEL OF EXTERNAL RESERVES, WHICH STOOD AT $36.23BN AS OF JANUARY 21 COMPARED WITH $34.94BN AT THE END OF NOVEMBER 2020. IT STATED THAT THIS REFLECTED IMPROVEMENTS IN CRUDE OIL PRICES, PARTIAL GLOBAL ECONOMIC RECOVERY AMID OPTIMISM OVER THE DISCOVERY AND DISTRIBUTIONS OF COVID-19 VACCINES BY MOST DEVELOPED ECONOMIES. THE RESERVES HAD EXPERIENCED DECLINES IN RECENT MONTHS DUE TO LOW OIL RECEIPTS. EXTERNAL RESERVES AS OF OCTOBER 30, 2020 FELL BY 0.3 PER CENT AND 10.2 PER CENT TO $35.58BN, COMPARED WITH $35.67BN AND $39.61BN AT END-SEPTEMBER 2020 AND END-OCTOBER 2019, RESPECTIVELY.