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Nigeria’s Forex Inflow Hits $55.5bn in Seven Months

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that Nigeria recorded a foreign exchange inflow of $55.5billion within a seven-month period.

It attributed the forex inflow to increased non-oil receipts and proceeds from Eurobonds, among other factors.

The CBN’s economic reports, which made the disclosure, said Nigeria earned $18.3billion in the second quarter of 2021, $30.2billion in the third quarter, and $7billion in October.

The apex bank said foreign exchange inflow to the economy improved in the third quarter due to increased non-oil receipts.

“Foreign exchange inflow into the economy rose significantly by 65.0 per cent to $30.20 billion, compared with $18.3 billion in the preceding period. The development was driven by the 158.4 per cent and 13.4 per cent increased inflow through the CBN and the autonomous sources, respectively.

“Foreign exchange inflow through the bank at $16.83 billion increased significantly above the $6.51 billion in the preceding quarter due to additional SDR allocation and proceeds from the Eurobond sales. A disaggregation showed that non-oil receipts increased to $14.97 billion, compared with the $4.60 billion in the preceding quarter.

“However, receipts from oil-related sources fell by 2.7 per cent to $1.86 billion, relative to the value in the second quarter of 2021. Foreign exchange inflow through autonomous sources was $13.37 billion, compared with $11.79 billion in the preceding period, as a result of improved inflow from invisible purchases and non-oil export receipts,” the CBN report explained.

The CBN said aggregate foreign exchange inflow into the economy was $7 billion in October, compared with $13.38 billion in September.

“The difference between the levels in October and the preceding month was mainly accounted for by the debt proceeds of Eurobonds, which boosted receipts in September 2021.

“However, foreign exchange outflow through the economy increased by 32.3 per cent to $4.31 billion in October 2021. Outflow through the bank increased by 45.6 per cent, relative to September (mainly third-party MDA transfers and interbank sales).

“On the other hand, autonomous outflow declined by 7.2 per cent to $0.76 billion, on account of the decrease in invisible imports. Consequently, the economy recorded a net inflow of $2.69 billion in the review period,” the report added.

Festus Akanbi