By Christian George
Nigeria’s external reserves witnessed a downward trend as the nation lost $167.2 million in July over the naira’s fall against the dollar.
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s figures on the movement of external reserves showed that the reserves, which ended June 30, 2023, at $34.12 billion, depreciated to $33.95 billion as of July 28, 2023.
The nation’s currency has continued to fluctuate since it was floated on the foreign exchange window on June 14.
The nation’s currency was exchanged between 820 to 868 at the parallel market on Monday. However, official Naira trading commenced at 784.91 and reached a high of 830 before closing at 756.
Meanwhile, the president of the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria, Aminu Gwadabe, maintained in a statement that the market’s confidence is depreciating.
On the contrary, at the end of its July Monetary Policy Meeting, the acting Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Folashodun Shonubi, promised policy intervention.
The head of the apex bank explained that the market’s volatility was a result of the rise in demand for foreign exchange and the resulting shortage of supply.
He said, “We have started intervening and will continue intervening until the market reaches our level.”
