Nigeria’s External Reserves Hit $43.2bn Obinna Chima Nigeria’s external reserves increased by 11 per cent from the $38.912 billion it was as of January 2, 2018, to $43.195 billion as of December 28, 2018. This represented an increase by $4.3 billion within the period. The reserves had dropped to about $41 billion
in November last year. Save for a total of $5.36 billion Eurobond issued by the federal government last year, which bolstered the country’s reserves position, it would have depreciated significantly considering the
combined effects of interest rate normalisation in some advanced economies which has resulted to increased capital outflows as well as the slump in crude oil price. After successfully raising $2.5 billion from the Eurobond
market last February, the federal government in November last year raised $2.86 billion to fund its 2018 budget deficit. At $54 a barrel, international benchmark Brent crude was down at about 20 per cent
in 2018. The decline was the first annual loss and the biggest yearly drop since 2015, when both contracts fell more than 30 per cent. Crude oil prices look likely to trade below $70 per barrel
Crude Oil Production Rises by 9%... Page 8
in 2019 as surplus production, much of it from the United States, and slowing economic growth to undermine OPECled efforts to shore up the market, a Reuters poll had shown. CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, recently pointed Continued on page 6
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Shettima Admits Worsening Security Situation in Borno Says FG, military doing their best Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri The Governor of Borno State, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, has admitted that the security situation in the troubled state is worsening but said he could not blame President Muhammadu Buhari for the situation because he now
has unfettered access to the president unlike during the administration of former president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, when he was treated as an enemy of the presidency. Speaking at an extraordinary security meeting held on Monday night at Continued on page 6
Buhari is Growing the Economy Steadily, Says APC PDP: Jobs losses, poverty are president’s only legacies Onyebuchi Ezigbo and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The All Progressives Congress (APC) said yesterday that emerging indices showed that President Muhammadu Buhari was slowly but steadily growing the country’s economy, explaining that it
was a matter of time before its impact would start hitting the people. But the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in a related development countered the APC, saying the high rate of unemployment in the Continued on page 6
Don’t Allow Security Agents Intimidate Voters, Onaiyekan Urges FG.. Page 6
LET THERE BE PEACE... L-R: All Progressives Congress’ Lagos State governorship candidate, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Archbishop of Metropolitan See of Lagos, Most Rev. Alfred Adewale Martins; and Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship candidate in the state, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, during World Day of Peace/New Year church service at Holy Cross Cathedral, Lagos... yesterday mubo peters