Declining export receipts from oil and speculative activities of the Bureau De Change operators among other challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy will put more pressure on the naira.
The Central Bank of Nigeria said this in its report on ‘Monetary, credit, foreign trade and exchange policy guidelines for fiscal years 2020/2021’.
The value of the naira plunged further as it exchanged at 465/$ on the parallel market on Monday, after it exchanged at 460/$ on Thursday.
It had earlier exchange at 430/$ when the CBN commenced forex sales to the BDCs earlier in September.
Sequel to the COVID-19 pandemic, it said, the viability of the external sector in 2020 was expected to deteriorate, given the present worsening current account balance and depletion of external reserves driven, largely, by decelerating export receipts, particularly oil.
Specifically, it added, the degree of external reserves accumulation was expected to decelerate as outflows were expected to outweigh inflows.
As a result, external reserves were expected to lie between $29.9bn and $34.3bn at end-December 2020 (predicated on current declining oil price between $20 and $40).
