Nigeria's foreign reserves rise to 45 billion dollars

Nigeria's foreign currency reserves rose to 45 billion dollars in August 2007 from 43 billion dollars the previous month, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said Wednesday.
The CBN said the reserves can finance 22 months of imports.

It said the reserves which hit 45 billion dollars in 2005, dropped to 32 billion dollars after Nigeria paid 12.4 billion dollars in Paris Club debts.It said the reserves began to build from April 2006 when the figure climbed to 37 billion dollars. The figure rose to 41.95 billion last December and to 42.65 billion in the first weeks of 2007.

The Paris Club in 2005 cancelled 18 billion dollars of Nigeria's debt, leaving a total of 12.4 billion dollars, including arrears and interests.Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer, exporting a daily output of 2.14 million barrels and deriving around 95 percent of its foreign earnings from the sector.

source AFP, Wednesday 19th september 2007