Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that the November and December figures were the first periods they fell below $30 billion since July 13. The foreign exchange reserves fell to $30.04 billion by November 26 from $30.10 billion the month before .
According to figures released by the CBN, the reserves were down 18.6 per cent on the year from $36.9 billion in the same period in 2014.
They have fallen by 20 per cent since the end of June 2014, when Brent crude prices began a more than 60 per cent plunge, hammering Nigerian finances.
According to the bank, the price of crude oil at the international market stood at $44.27 per barrel as at November 30, and $35. 56 as at today, putting more pressure on the Central Bank’s bid to defend the naira and avoid a devaluation. CBN had already implemented restrictions on the import of non-essential products.
The apex bank’s decision to defend the naira through selling dollar to the parallel market on a weekly basis made the reserves fall to $30.69 billion in September – a short fall from $31.63 billion on the figures from August – and 22.42 percent less than it was in September 2014. In October however, the CBN shifted the naira peg from N197.96 to N197, following a fall of over a billion dollars in reserves within the month.
Meanwhile, the apex bank will henceforth allocate foreign exchange to end-users, with priority given to matured Letters of Credit, importation of petroleum products, raw materials and machinery.
The Director of Monetary Policy of the CBN, Mr. Moses Tule, disclosed this in Abuja, at the weekend, noting that under the new regime, those who take pleasure in wasting the nation’s foreign exchange in shopping abroad would find it increasingly difficult.
“Our priority as a nation for the allocation or use of foreign exchange is for the settlement of matured Letters of Credit, LCs, that have been opened for importation; for the importation of petroleum products until such a time when we have our refineries fully operational and we are not in a position to import fuel again to ensure that the wheels of economic development continue turning and running and for the importation of raw materials.
“By the time we meet these three priority areas, you will discover that people who are using their debit cards overseas for shopping can never be on the priority list,” Tule said.
According to Tule, currency speculators were determined to put severe pressure on the monetary authorities in order to ensure that the CBN further devalued the naira.
