External reserves drops to $43.6bn in Q4

The external reserves on Tuesday closed 2013 at $43.6bn 6bn on December 30, 2013, according to the latest figure on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) website

This amount is approximately $500m below the $44.1bn recorded on December 28, 2012.

The $43.6bn also shows that the reserves fell by about $700m below the $44.3bn it recorded on January 2, 2013.

The reserves had fallen from the peak of $47.1bn on August 14 to $44.1bn on December 17, 2013, indicating $3bn drop within the period.

The reserves, which started the year at $44.3bn, began rising through the year and peaked at $48.8539bn on April 30.

However, the foreign reserves started falling gradually since May. The reserves had fallen to a nine-month low at $45.08bn on October 14.

Between May 2 and August 5, 2013, the foreign reserves dropped by $1.8bn from the peak of $48.85bn to $46.98bn.