Nigeria’s foreign reserves fall 20.5% to $23.95bn

Nigeria’s foreign currency reserves fell 20.5 per cent year-on-year to $23.95 billion by Oct. 27, down 2.7 percent month-on-month, Central Bank of Nigeria data gathered by Reuters showed on Monday.

The CBN has been selling dollars to support the weakening naira, hit by low oil prices that have triggered the first recession for 25 years.

The CBN will sell $500 million currency forwards at an auction to clear demand backlog from manufacturers, traders said on Monday, as the regulator tries to find ways to resolve a chronic dollar shortage plaguing the nation.