Nigeria's forex reserves up 4.6 pct mth-on-mth to $38.9 bln

CBN Gov, Emefiele

Nigeria's foreign exchange reserves rose to $38.94 billion on July 24, a 4.67 percent increase over the level a month ago, when they were $37.20 billion, owing to slower draw downs by the central bank to defend local currency.
Data from central bank on Thursday showed the reserves of Africa's biggest economy have steadily grown in the last two months "due to increased accretion and moderation in the rate of  depletion," the central bank said.
Forex reserves were however down 17 percent year-on-year, the data showed. Reserves stood at $46.87 billion on July 24, 2013.
Nigerian local currency has remained stable at around 161-162 to the dollar on the interbank market and 155.75 on the official window ,on the back of support from dollar sales by some energy companies and offshore investors buying local debt.