Business

External Reserves Fall By $610m

Published

2 years ago

December 2, 2021

NewTimes

Emefiele Sick, Can't Meet With Reps - CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that the nation’s external reserves fell by $610m in November.

The reserves dropped to N$41.22bn as of November 29 from $41.83bn on October 29.

The CBN which disclosed this on Thursday added that at the current level, the external reserves could meet the country’s nine-month import demand.

Figures obtained from the apex bank showed that the reserves, which had gained $5bn in October, returned to a downward path in November.

The reserves increased from $36.78bn on September 30 to $41.83bn as of October 29.

The Governor, CBN, Godwin Emefiele, said, at the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria’s dinner in Lagos :

“Supported by our demand management policy, in addition to support from the successful issuance of the $4bn Eurobond and the IMF SDR, our external reserves today stands at over $41.4bn, which is enough to support nine months of imports.

“This is not just a morale booster for both foreign direct and portfolio investors willing to invest in the economy, but it provides significant fire power to support our domestic industries that need to import critical machines and equipment for domestic production and exports.”

He said as a result of the drop in foreign exchange supply arising from low earnings from the sale of crude oil, the naira depreciated by 7.7 per cent from N380/$ to 410/$ at the I & E window.

Emefiele said supply was also affected by massive outflow of foreign portfolio investments from emerging and frontier markets, including Nigeria in 2020.

“A combination of these factors led to a marked drop in our foreign reserves from nearly $36.7bn at the beginning of the crises in March to a low of $32.9bn in June 2021,” he said.

He said the volume of activities at the I&E window fell from nearly $250m- $300m daily to less than $40m in the first quarter of 2021.

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Business

BREAKING: CBN Speaks On Devaluation Of Naira To N630/$1

Published

5 days ago

June 1, 2023

NewTimes

BREAKING: Old Naira Notes Deadline Stays - Emefiele

CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele

The Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN) on Thursday denied devaluing the naira .

This clarification came from the
Acting Director, Corporate Communication, Dr. Isa AbdulMumin, in a statement titled, “CBN Has Not Devalued the Naira”.

He said: “The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been drawn to a news report… titled “CBN Devalues Naira To 630/31”.

“We wish to state categorically that this news report, which in the imagination of the newspaper is exclusive, is replete with outright FALSEHOODS and destabilizing innuendos, reflecting potentially willful ignorance of the said medium as to the workings of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the exchange rate at the Investors’ & Exporters’ (I&E) window traded this moming (June 1, 2023) at N465/US$1 and has been stable around this rate for a while.”

The bank advised the public to ignore the news report in its entirety, saying it’s speculative and calculated at causing panic in the market.

Arts & Culture

BREAKING: After Subsidy Removal, NNPC Increases Petrol Price To Over N500

Published

6 days ago

May 31, 2023

NewTimes

Senator Withdraws Support For Tinubu Over Choice Of Muslim Running Mate

President Tinubu

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) on Wednesday adjusted the pump price of petrol by over 100% to between N488 and N557.

The development followed the announcement by President Bola Tinubu during his inaugural address on Monday that fuel subsidy was ‘gone’.

However, it was learnt that the president will meet with organised labour from 2pm Thursday (today) afternoon.

The prices have now been adjusted upward from between N189 to N194 to N537 per litre in Abuja and other North-central States.

For Lagos and other South-west states, a litre of fuel now sells for between N488 and N500 per litre.

In the South-east, the price will range from N515 to N520, while in the North-west, the price of the product was raised to N540. In the North-east, it moved from N199 to N557 per litre.

For the South-south, it is now from N511 to N525 per litre. Nigeria’s subsidy budget of N3.6 trillion for this year, expires in June, 2023.