The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, made the following statement at the last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in November: “The committee observed the decline in the external reserves position, as gross external reserves decreased by 1.34 percent at the end of October 2022 to $36.87 billion from $37.39 billion at the end of September 2022.
“With indications of lower crude oil prices in the futures market, members urged the Bank to sustain its current policies to boost non-oil exports in order to shore up the external reserves.”
A member of the MPC, Robert Asogwa, said, “The recent drop in external reserves is, however, linked to the decline in oil exports even at a time of higher oil prices.
“Interestingly, the publicised reduction in oil thefts across the Niger delta and the rising prospects of increased overseas remittances would likely boost the gross external reserves to a large extent in early 2023.”
