$3.7bn reserves: Uncovering the truth at CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria remains firmly in the news for all the wrong reasons. As if the stench oozing from the apex financial institution’s naira reissuance that prompted President Bola Tinubu to appoint a special investigator was not enough, the report that external reserves plunged to $3.7 billion is doubly alarming. Simultaneous forensic and law enforcement investigations are also required to unravel the mess and set the stage for reforms.

Apprehension may soon give way to panic following the bombshell on Monday from a global financial firm, JP Morgan, that contrary to rosier official figures, Nigeria’s foreign reserves plunged to $3.7 billion by December 2022. The sum contrasts sharply with the $36.61 billion initially claimed by the CBN by that year's end.

Indeed, the CBN website posted $33.8 billion as gross reserves as of August 16, 2023, with $33.08 billion of this liquid. Though it admitted that reserves fell by $2.85 billion in the first six months of 2023, it claimed that they stood at $37.07 billion by January 3.

It is imperative to ascertain the true position and its implications, and for Tinubu and his newly inaugurated Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, to take urgent defensive measures.

Source: punch