Nigeria's external reserves drop to $26.2bn

The nation’s external reserves fell marginally to $26.20bn on July 28, down from $26.32 on July 22, data from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s website showed on Monday.


Month-on-month, the reserves fell by 0.4 per cent from the $26.34bn recorded on June 29, the report indicated.

The foreign exchange reserves stood at $26.42bn on May 28; it was down by 9.2 per cent year-on-year.

During the month of July, the reserves hovered between $26.3 and $26.4bn.

The global plunge in oil prices has caused the reserves to be depleting very fast. The development has forced the CBN to introduce foreign exchange controls, which were abandoned last month.

The CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee announced plans to adopt a flexible exchange rate policy after the external reserves fell to $26.56bn on May 23.

The external reserves have lost over $2bn dollar this year.