Fresh data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has shown that Nigeria’s external reserves declined by $521.22million in five weeks.
According to CBN’s data on movement in reserves, the external reserves stood at $33.396billion as of October 31, 2023, but fell to $32.875billion as of December 7, 2023, representing a decline of $521million.
This depletion can be traced to the country’s declining earnings from crude oil which accounts for a large chunk of the country’s forex earnings.
The CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso at the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria’s 58th Annual Bankers’ Dinner and Grand Finale of the Institute’s 60th anniversary, had bemoaned the continuous decline in Nigeria’s crude oil production which had further weakened the already inadequate economic diversification.