Macroeconomic Report & Economic Updates
January 15, 2018
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 51)
According to figures released by the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, employment growth lagged during the recession period, and worsened unemployment/underemployment rates few quarters after. Specifically, unemployment rate rose to 18.8 percent in 2017Q31, up from 16.2 percent in previous quarter (the recession-exit quarter) and 13.9 percent in corresponding quarter. Disaggregated figures reveal that the number of unemployed and underemployed persons in the labour force increased by 17 percent and 2 percent respectively, to 15.9 million and 18.0 million in 2017Q3, majority of which are young persons within ages 15-34.
Related
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 12)
The naira/dollar exchange rate remained largely stable at the parallel
market at ?320/$ during the period7, albeit slight
fluctuations on February 29, 2016 (?325/$) and March 2, 2016 (?328/$). The
decline in the hoarding of foreign currency as well as the substantial
reduction in the speculative demand for dollars were the two key factors
responsible for the ease of fluctuations in the forex market8. With the slight
increase in the price of crude oil, Nigerias foreign reserve slightly grew by $56 million, from 27.81 billion to $27.84 billion9.
With the continued increase in the price of crude oil, a modest build-up of
foreign reserve to guard against unfavourable commodity price movements is
expected in the near term.
External Reserve
External Reserve: External reserve picked up from its year-2000 level below $10,000 million to above $60,000 million in 2008. However, the external reserve fell deeply in 2010/11 and even further in 2
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 43)
Crude oil prices have sustained upward increases for the past few weeks in October. While upward trajectory of crude oil prices is expected to be sustained in the short term in line with OPECs production cuts deal expected to run until March 2018, it is important to note that crude oil prices would remain volatile. The Nigerian government therefore should take advantage of periods of high revenue from crude oil exports to develop other sectors (such as Agriculture, Manufacturing and Services sectors) of the economy as key exporting and revenue generation sectors, and thus minimize volatility risks