External Reserves Hit US$56.9b – CBN

Oluyinka Akintunde, Asst Business Editor, Abuja

 

Nigeria’s external reserves rose to US$56.88 billion by February 22, 2008, an increase of $1.04 billion or 1.9 per cent over the preceding week’s level of $55.84 billion. The external reserves were US$54.63 billion as at February 1.

 

 The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which confirmed this in its Economic Indicators Report for the week-ended February 22, said the current level of reserves could support over 26 months of foreign exchange disbursements.

 

 The increase in the reserves was mainly influenced by the rise in crude oil price and the level of crude oil production in the country.

 

 According to the CBN, the average price of Nigeria ’s reference crude, the Bonny Light stood at $100.68 per barrel by Feb 22 as against $97.33 per barrel in the week-ended February 15.

 

 The bank also noted that the country’s crude oil production rose to 2.2 million barrels pera day from its previous level of 2.13 million barrels per day.

 

 The CBN reported further decline in the currency in circulation from N880.8 billion in the preceding week to N864.2 billion by February 22.

 

 The latest decline, according to the bank, is attributable to the decrease observed in currency outside the banking system during the period.

 

 The currency in circulation had peaked at N951.3 billion by January 4, only to begin a gradual cutback.

 

It reported mixed development in the banks’ savings and lending rates during the period under review.

 

 “The average interest rate on savings account was 2.92 percent as at February 22, as against 3.33 percent as at February 15.

 

“The average prime lending rate of banks was 16.20 percent as at February 22, compared with 16.48 percent as at February 15. The average maximum lending rate of banks stood at 18.53 percent as at February 22,” the bank said.

 The naira maintained its stability against the dollar in the official trading window, the Wholesale Dutch Auction Action (WDAS) during the period.

The naira exchanged for N116.28 to a dollar at the WDAS during the week-ended February 22 as in the preceding week.