Yemisi Izuora
Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves has risen by 8.39 percent to $27.88 billion by January 26 from a month ago, climbing to their highest level in 10 months.
Nigeria’s dollar reserves have been rising this year to gain 6.9 percent so far, Reuters quoted a Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN data.
It said however, that the CBN did not provide any reason for the recent rise, which may be attributed to the recent rise in global oil prices.
However, official reserves are down 1.27 percent from the same period a year ago, when they stood at $28.24 billion, the data showed.
Meanwhile, the federal government is planning to raise $300 million by selling a diaspora bond targeting Nigerians living abroad, one of the book runners on the deal, First Bank told Reuters.
The bond, which will have a maturity of five to seven years, is expected to be issued by June, the bank said.
Nigeria has asked Goldman Sachs and Stanbic IBTC Bank , the local unit of South Africa’s Standard Bank, to advise it on the sale of the maiden bond. It also appointed United Bank for Africa as one of the bookrunners on the deal.
Nigeria is the world’s fifth-biggest destination for international remittances with 5 million Nigerians living abroad sending money back to relatives, according to Western Union.