September 19, (THEWILL) – Nigeria’s foreign reserves recorded a monthly net inflow of $2.35 billion in the first seven months of the year, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, disclosed on Thursday.
On Tuesday, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said that Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves are at risk due to the petrol subsidy removal and lower crude oil earnings.
The apex bank also said increased external debt servicing obligations could pose risks to the growth of external reserves.
Speaking at the Access Bank corporate forum in Lagos, Edun said the country now records approximately $2.35 billion in net inflows into the CBN’s foreign reserves.
The increase in foreign reserves, the Minister said, has contributed significantly to the stability of naira in the foreign exchange (FX) market.
He also reiterated the commitment of the federal government to meet its targeted 2 million crude oil barrels per day (bpd), before the end of 2024.
“We have relative currency stability. And of course, the all-important margin of the rates. We’ve seen a gradual elimination of multiple exchange rates. We also have foreign exchange liquidity. The gross reserves are up. There has been a net inflow in the first seven months of this year of about $2.35 billion every month.
“On the fiscal side as well, government revenues are growing and the key to government revenue is not so much that the government has revenue to compete with the private sector.
“It’s the fundamentals, the social and the key infrastructure spending. The social safety net spending. And historically, our figures are low. Our tax-to-GDP ratio is as low as 10%. Our revenue to GDP is also around 15%.
“There is a commitment to ramp up oil production to 2 million bpd before the end of the year. In addition, our exports need to be significantly diversified and an important area we need to look at is the services. We have the demographics as well as the relatively skilled population which means we can export our services”, Edun said.
