Nigeria: Press spotlights drop in external reserves by $1.65bn in six months, others

APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The report that Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves have fallen by $1.6bn to $32.97bn since the Central Bank of Nigeria tried to unify the country’s foreign exchange rates is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Wednesday.
The Punch reports that Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves have fallen by $1.6bn to $32.97bn since the Central Bank of Nigeria tried to unify the country’s foreign exchange rates.
On June 14, the apex bank asked Deposit Money Banks to remove the rate cap on the naira at the official Investors and Exporters’ Window of the foreign exchange market to ensure the free float of the national currency against the dollar and other global currencies.
In a circular, the bank said, “The Central Bank of Nigeria wishes to inform all authorised dealers and the general public of the following immediate changes to operations in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market: Abolishment of segmentation.
“All segments are now collapsed into the Investors and Exporters window. Applications for medicals, school fees, BTA/PTA, and SMEs would continue to be processed through deposit money banks. Re-introduction of the ‘Willing Buyer, Willing Seller’ model at the I&E Window. Operations in this window shall be guided by the extant circular on the establishment of the window, dated 21 April 2017, and referenced FMD/DlR/ClR/GEN/08/007. All eligible transactions are permitted to access foreign exchange at this window.”
Since then, the naira and foreign currency reserves have recorded a decline. As of June 15, the country’s gross FX reserves stood at $34.62bn. However, the foreign exchange reserves fell to $32.97bn as of December 1, 2023, according to data from the CBN.
The newspaper says that Civil society organisations and power consumer groups have expressed concern over the N618bn multilateral and bilateral loans allocated to the Ministries of Finance and Power in the 2024 budget.
Although the budget captured it as project-tied loans sourced from multilateral and bilateral agreements with international funding agencies, the Nigeria Electricity Consumer Advocacy Network, and Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre decried the spate of borrowing by the Federal Government.
They argued that the borrowed funds had yet to impact positively on the well-being of Nigerians, stressing that despite the trillions of naira spent by the Federal Government and private investors on the power sector since it was privatised 10 years ago, power supply nationwide had remained poor.
Figures in the 2024 budget indicate that no fewer than 13 ministries of the Federal Government are to receive the sum of N1.1tn as project-tied loans sourced from multilateral and bilateral agreements with international funding agencies.
The project-tied funds, separate from the proposed budgetary allocations, were obtained from contractual agreements with the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Africa Development Bank and other international funding agencies.
The Guardian reports that the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development Board (NCDMB), Mr Simbi Wabote, has said the painstaking implementation of the Nigerian Content Act has encouraged more local modular refineries to increase domestic refining.
Wabote explained that Waltersmith Modular Refinery, supported by the NCDMB in 2023, so far produced and sold over 170 million litres of petroleum products, amounting to about 3,000 trucks of petroleum products that would have been hitherto imported with scarce forex.
During the 12th Practical Nigerian Content Forum in Yenagoa on Tuesday, Wabote disclosed that site works for the expansion of the refinery to 10,000 barrels per day (bpd) capacity had started in September to further expand in-country refining.
The 12th edition of the Practical Nigerian Contest Forum has as its theme: Deepening Nigerian Content Amidst Divestments, Domestication and Decarbonisation.
It draws Stakeholders from oil and gas industry to discuss the progress of the local content in the country.
He said the technical operations data showed that the number of registered industry operators grew from 53 in 2018 to 114 in 2023, representing about a 100 per cent increase.
He said within the same period, service companies increased from 8,000 to 11,000 while individual registrations increased from 140,000 to almost 400,000.
“Regarding our Commercial Ventures portfolio, we partnered with Waltersmith to establish a 5,000 bpd modular refinery in Ibigwe, Imo State.
This year alone, the refinery has produced and sold over 170 million liters or about 3,000 trucks of petroleum products that would have been hitherto imported using our scarce forex.
The newspaper says that the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, has apologised to the relatives of victims of the accidental bombing that occurred at the Tudun Biri community in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State on Sunday
Lagbaja during a condolence visit to the community described the incident as “very disheartening.” He, however, ordered an investigation into the incident, saying the probe would allow the army to avert such situations in the future.
About 85 victims of the bombing have been given mass burial. This is just as the search-and-rescue mission continued in the village. The COAS, accompanied by Principal Staff Officers from the Army Headquarters and the General Officer Commanding 1 Division, met with the Dangaladima Zazau, the District Head of Rigasa, Aminu Idris, other leaders and members of the community. Lagbaja also apologised to the people.
The COAS, in an emotion-laden speech, expressed regrets, noting that in the recent past, the general area of Tudun Biri and adjoining villages were infested with bandits, who terrorised the communities, until troops of the Nigerian Army started conducting operations to sanitise the area and make it habitable.
He pointed out, that the troops were carrying out aerial patrols when they observed a group of people and wrongly analysed and misinterpreted their pattern of activities to be similar to that of the bandits, before the drone strike.
GIK/APA