Foreign Exchange Reserves Appreciate 9% to $35 billion, Exchange Rates Fall

The country’s foreign exchange (forex) reserves have improved by 9% since the beginning of the year. The forex reserves now stand at $35.43 billion (as at March 14^th, 2012), up from $32.64 billion at the end of December last year.

This disclosure was made by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) at their meeting in Abuja yesterday.

The Committee said in a statement, “that the improvement in the inflow of foreign exchange partly owing to the current high crude oil prices in the international markets and the general improvement in the policy environment to attract capital flows influenced the observed trends in the external sector.”

Also concerning forex rates, the committee noted that there were improvements at the official, interbank and parallel market rates since the end of last year.

According to the committee, “The exchange rate  at  the  wDAS auctions moved from US$/N158.6205 at the end of January 2012  to US$/N157.6206 as on March 14, 2012.  This partly reflected the moderation in the demand for foreign exchange due to increased inflows and reduced demand.  The exchange rate at the inter-bank market appreciated  significantly  from  US$/N161.60  as at end January to US$/N157.70 as at March 14, 2012.  The rate charged by BDCs also appreciated from US$/N163.00 to US$/N160.00 during the same period.”