T he nation’s external reserve has taken a downturn to USD43.67bn as at 29th August after losing $1.23bn within 29 days. The data posted by the Central Bank of Nigeria shows that this figure represent the lowest since March after it climbed to USD45.15bn in July..
Businesses may also be social non-profit enterprises or state-owned public enterprises operated by governments with specific social and economic objectives. A business owned by multiple private individuals may form as an incorporated company or jointly organise as a partnership. Countries have different laws that may ascribe different rights to the various business entities.
The external reserve have been impacted negatively by the low price of crude oil in the international market which also have fallen to as low as USD58pb since January 2019 following the trade rift between US and China creating market agitation.
Nigeria depends largely on oil export for its foreign reserve making the country vulnerable to fluctuation in oil prices. This coupled with heavy dependence on imported products by citizens creating trade deficit and depleting external reserve.
CBN has recently made some move to conserve the nation’s foreign reserve by tightening forex availability for the importation of certain products while out rightly banning others. The recent temporal closure of the borders between Republic of Benin and Niger are part of the effort. It is however uncertain how fast these foreign conservation measures will create the expected boost citing the challenges to economic production which include infrastructure gaps, communal conflicts, insecurity and weather hazards. Most critical are infrastructure and insecurity which also have reduced investors confidence for the country.
According to Trading Economics, Foreign Exchange Reserves in Nigeria averaged USD11.82bn from 1960 until 2019, reaching an all time high of USD62.08bn iin September of 2008 and a record low of 63.22 USD Million in June of 1968.
