Posted by Xinhua on
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that the nation's external reserves hit an all time high of 29.5 billion US dollars on October 28.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that the nation's external reserves hit an all time high of 29.5 billion US dollars on October 28.
CBN Governor Charles Soludo told reporters in the capital Abuja on Tuesday that "the figure represents the highest in sub-Saharan Africa and far exceeded the target of 9.57 billion dollars projected under the National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy."
Soludo was optimistic, saying that the figure would have peaked at 30 billion dollars by the close of business on Tuesday.
The increase in the external reserves had increased the bank's capacity to supply required foreign exchange to the market, he said.
According to him, at the DAS market, the naira/dollar rate has appreciated to about 129.55 naira (down from 132.85 naira at the beginning of 2005) and the inter-bank rate has also appreciated to about 132 naira (down from 137 naira).
The Nigerian currency naira has also appreciated against the pound sterling and the euro in both the official and parallel markets, he said.
But he also admitted that there had been a recorded increase in inflation rate, saying that the rate grew from 26 percent in July to 28 percent at the end of August this year.
"Inflationary pressures in recent months are driven essentially by rising food prices. Food price inflation jumped from 18 percent in June to 36.1 percent in August," he added.