Chimara BygoldNigeria’s external reserve lost nearly $1 billion since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu came into office on May 29, 2023 notwithstanding the managed naira float and other measures the new government put in place. The external reserve went from $35 billion as of May 29, 2023 to $34.1 billion by the end of H1 on June 30, despite the naira unification and the managed exchange rate float.
Generally, the external reserve lost about $2.8 billion in the first half of 2023 due to weak crude oil output and poor foreign participation in the capital market.
Experts attribute the decrease in external reserves, which had continued since the new administration came into power, to some capital-intensive projects like the general election as well as the naira redesign and issuance project of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The external reserves had opened the year at $37 billion before dropping to $34.1 billion at the end of June 2023.
Checks also revealed that this is the largest half year drop in six years (2015) when the external reserves went from $34.4 billion to $28.1 billion by the end of the first six months of 2015.
CBN blamed the decline on lack of external debt financing, high importation bills as well as drop in forex transactions,
Follow Us