Nigeria’s external reserve falls by $535m in May

The nation’s external reserve recorded its second monthly decline of $535 million last month. This came as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had intervened in the foreign exchange market by selling $6.84 billion from January to last month.
According to the CBN, the external reserve fell from $30.864 billion at the end of April to $30.329 billion on May 31, translating to decline of $535 million during the month.
Analysis showed that the reserve rose steadily by $7.06 billion from $23.93 billion on October 24 last year to $30.99 billion on May 4 when it commenced its steady decline. The reserve grew by $819 million in November, $1.07 billion in December, $2.33 billion in January and by $1.47 billion in February. The reserve, however, dropped by $645 million in March, while it also grew by $573 million in April.
The decline in the reserve in May was driven by increased dollar sales by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the slight drop in price of crude oil price from $53.69 dollars on April 12 to $48.85 per barrel on June 1st.

Senate plans to invite central bank, other banks over high interest rates

Abubakar Bukola Saraki

Senate President Bukola Saraki has said the Senate is concerned about the high interest rates on loans, stating that lawmakers will this week discuss the issue with the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Deposit Money Banks.
He stated that in an economy where workers were being retrenched and people were losing investments, it was immoral for certain sectors to be making astronomical profits.
In an interview with journalists in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, on Sunday, the Senate President said, “They (banks) will tell you that they are doing business but in doing business, there must be social responsibility. We must be able to sit down and look at ourselves eyeball to eyeball, and we intend to do that; and I can promise Nigerians that we can find a solution. Hopefully with the stability in the forex market, we will now begin to address the high interest rate.
“There is no business that can make money if it is trying to borrow at 28 or 29 per cent. It cannot work and