Oil price raises Nigeria’s external reserves to $34.8bn

Nigeria’s external reserves rose by $404 million to $34.820 billion as of March 31, 2021.
This, according to figures from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s website represents an increase by 1.2 per cent, compared with the $34.417 billion it was as of March 18, 2021.
It said this was primarily due to a rise in the benchmark Brent crude oil price, which had remained around $60 per barrel.
The latest oil price is about $20 per barrel above the $40 per barrel which the Federal Government’s 2021 budget is predicated on.
But Nigeria has continued to face macro-economic challenges, which have seen foreign portfolio investors remain edgy.
Fitch Ratings recently predicted that Nigeria’s external reserves would rise to $42 billion in 2021.
The global credit rating agency hinged the forecast on its expectation that Brent crude would average $53 per barrel, compared to the $43.1 per barrel recorded in 2020.
The agency anticipated that the CBN would allow the official naira exchange rate to depreciate further over the course of 2021, notwithstanding improved terms of trade and foreign exchange reserves.