The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has faulted the bank’s financial accounts estimation published by JP Morgan, raising concerns over the motive.
CBN’s Director, Monetary Policy Department, Dr Hassan Mahmud, spoke on the report during his appearance on the Money Line television programme.
JP Morgan had estimated Nigeria’s foreign reserves as of December 31, 2022, to be at $3.7 billion mark.
The American multinational financial services had noted that factors including foreign exchange forwards, securities lending, currency swaps, and outstanding contracts had weakened Nigeria’s net external reserves to an all-time low of $3.7 billion as of the end of last year.
It had added that Nigeria’s net FX reserves were significantly lower than previously estimated.
According to Mahmud, foreign reserves status and flow were not static as they changed from time to time.
His words, “FX forwards ($6.84 billion), securities lending ($5.5 billion) and currency swaps ($21.3 billion); and estimating currency swaps by backing out FX forwards and outstanding OTC Futures balances from an overall aggregate published in the financial accounts.”
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