CBN expresses concern over depletion of excess crude account

THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has bemoaned the dep-letion of the excess crude account by the three tiers of government.Governor of the apex bank, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, made the observation in Abuja, on Tuesday, while addressing the media at the end of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held at the bank's corporate headquarters.According to the governor, the unbridled demand for funds from the excess crude account had depleted it significantly, unlike the situation in the 2011 fiscal year when the apex bank was able to defend the naira because it had buffers, having accumulated substantial foreign exchange reserves when oil prices were high.Highlighting the performance of the economy in the second quarter, Mallam Sanusi said the threat of inflationary pressure had re-emerged since the beginning of 2012.He said the year-on-year headline inflation rose to 12.9 per cent in June, as against the 12.7 per cent in May.According to him, core inflation rose to 15.2 per cent in June from the 14.9 per cent level in May, while food inflation declined from 12.7 per cent in May to 12.0 per cent in June.Sanusi said the major drivers of headline inflation during the period were food and non-alcoholic beverages, housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels.On the development in the external sector, the apex bank governor said the reserves stood at $37.16 billion, representing an increase of $0.33 billion over the level of $36.83 billion at end of May.
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