The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revealed, in its data on movement on gross foreign reserves, that the country’s foreign reserves, which were $37.1 billion as of January 3, 2023, fell to $33.1 billion by February 8, 2024.This represents a 10.7 per cent decline ($4 billion) in foreign reserves. Consequently, the number of months of imports equivalent declined from 7.6 months in January 2023 to 6.8 months as of February 8, 2024
February 27, 2024
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 6)
Related
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 17)
Activities
in the manufacturing sector remained at levels recorded in 2016Q3.
Specifically, manufacturing capacity utilization (a measure of potential
manufacturing output that is actually realized) remained at 48.46 percent in
2016Q4 below average. During the quarter, structural bottlenecks
such as epileptic power supply (average of 2, 548 Megawatts) in
addition to forex constraints, hampered manufacturing activities. As such, high
cost of raw materials and cost of production subdued activities in the short
term. Recent efforts by the monetary authority to increase forex access to the
manufacturing sector as well as improvement in gas supply and electricity
generation would help minimize production costs and enhance production process.
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 24)
Crude
oil price increased, in the week under review, to its highest price in 2016. Nigerias
bonny light increased by $1.38 from $48.02 per barrel on May 20, 2016 to $49.64
per barrel on May 27, 2016, while Brent crude was sold for $50 per
barrel on May 26, 2016. The catalyst for price gains in the period
under review is the supply-side contractions, with unplanned production shortages
in Nigeria, Canada and Iraq. The upward trend of prices may unlock
more supplies in subsequent weeks, but the OPEC meeting scheduled for June 2,
2016, could moderate the effect. Nigeria is expected to benefit from crude oil
price rising above the $38 per barrel benchmark. Unfortunately, supply
disruptions continue to negatively affect oil revenue and may have contributed
to the depletion of external reserve by over $153 millionthis
week. The federal government, in collaboration with relevant security agencies,
should find a lasting solution to the vandalism of oil pipelines and production
facilities.