Monday, 3 September 2012

External reserves rise again, hit 25-month high

Coordinating Minister for the economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Foreign exchange reserves rose to a 25-month high of $38.62bn by August 29, and were 5.81 per cent up on the previous month, driven by rising crude exports.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation said about 85 per cent of increase in reserves was from crude oil. Nigeria’s crude oil production hit a record high of 2.7 million barrels per day on August 1.
The forex reserves stood at $36.5bn on same date last month and at N37.18bn on August 25 last year, the closest available comparable figure.
Reserves had risen by 5.71 per cent month-on-month to $38.51bn at August 28, 2012, from $36.43bn recorded a month earlier.
It showed that forex reserves rose to a two-year high of $38.51bn. The reserves have not been as high as this since August 10, 2010 when they stood at $38.59bn.Forex reserves had fallen by 1.4 per cent month-on-month to $36.40bn at July 25, from $36.93bn recorded a month earlier.
The $53m decline, according to analysts was attributed to falling oil prices and strong dollar demand.The reserves had plunged in the month of June, dropping by $1bn to $36.768bn on June 28, from $37.768bn it stood on June 6, 2012.

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