Nigeria's foreign currency reserves rose to 48.9 billion dollars

Nigeria's foreign currency reserves rose to 48.9 billion dollars in October 2007 from 46.7 billion dollars the previous month, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said. Reserves had grown steadily in the last three years, driven by high crude oil prices in the international market. Oil prices attained new record high of 94 dollars per barrel Wednesday in the world's energy market.

The CBN said the reserves level, which hit 45 billion dollars in 2005, dropped to 32 billion dollars after Nigeria paid 12.4 billion dollars in debt owed to governments in the Paris Club of creditors. It said reserves began to build from April 2006, when the total came to 37 billion dollars. The total then went to 41.95 billion in December 2006 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 interest.