Nigeria’s Forex Inflow Hits $15bn in First Quarter

Obinna Chima

The aggregate foreign exchange (forex) inflow into the Nigerian economy in the first quarter of 2017 has been estimated at US$15 billion.

This, however, represented a decline of 9.2 per cent below the level in the fourth quarter of 2016, but showed an increase of 1.4 per cent over the level at the end of the corresponding period of 2016.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) disclosed this in its first quarter 2017 economic report that was posted on its website.

It explained that the development was driven by the fall in receipts from both the central bank and autonomous sources. Oil sector receipts, which accounted for 15.9 per cent of the total, stood at US$2.38 billion, compared with US$1.97 billion and US$2.48 billion, recorded in the fourth quarter of 2016 and the corresponding period of 2016, respectively.

However, non-oil public sector inflow, at US$4.21 billion (28.1 per cent of the total), fell by 11.6 per cent, compared with the level at the end of the fourth quarter of 2016, but showed an increase of 188.4 per cent above the level at the end of the corresponding period of 2016. Also, autonomous inflow, which accounted for 56.1 per cent of the total, fell by 14.1 per cent, compared with the level in the fourth quarter of 2016.

The report indicated that the performance of the external sector in the first quarter of 2017, improved with an overall balance of payments surplus equivalent to 3.1 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), compared with 0.6 per cent in the corresponding period of 2016.

This was influenced by improvements in the price of crude oil following the decision by the Organisationof Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to curtail supply. Consequently, provisional data showed that foreign exchange inflow and ouflow through the CBN in the first quarter of 2017 were US$6.60 billion and US$3.65 billion, respectively. This resulted in a net inflow of US$2.95 billion, in contrast to the net outflow of US$0.54 billion in the fourth quarter of 2016. Inflow declined by 1.9 per cent relative to the level at the end of the fourth quarter of 2016, but rose by 67.3 per cent relative to the level in the corresponding period of 2016.