Nigeria’s external reserve gained $39.58 million on Friday March 19, 2021 recording the first increase since January 2021.
In just one day, the country’s external reserve reached $34.46 billion on Friday from $34.42 billion on Thursday, representing 0,11 percent growth, latest data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria has shown.
This growth has been predicted by analysts that estimated that the upward trend in the global oil price will benefit Nigeria as it will increase the country’s export earnings and reserve.
The analysts at Financial Derivatives Company Limited (FDC) in their analysis of the state of the economy said the Central Bank of Nigeria will be able to utilize the forex to reduce pressure on naira.
Brent Crude, against which Nigeria’s crude oil is benchmarked was $70 per barrel as of March 8, as tight supplies are forcing a global drain in inventories.
Also, ongoing lockdown measures, voluntary social distancing, suspension on vaccination in some countries and other pandemic-related developments continue to weigh on economic activity and supply of crude oil.
The FDC report said, “Oil prices are expected to maintain the upward trend on increased vaccine rollouts that is boosting hopes for global oil demand recovery.
The current external reserves positive represents a $917.68 million decline when compared to the last day of 2020 when it stood at $35.37 billion, while it has lost $643.6 million year to date.
The financial regulator had attributed the recent persistent decline in Nigeria’s external reserve to the clearing of backlogs of forex demands by legitimate importers.
