Macroeconomic Report & Economic Updates

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.

Recently released Nigerias petroleum imports data, show a significant decline in the quantity and value of petroleum import products (PMS, AGO and NHK) between 2015 and 2016. Specifically, value of imports significantly declined year-on-year (January to April) by 30.4 percent to N571 billion in 2016. The huge decline in the import of (refined) petroleum products likely reflects the lower (unrefined) crude oil production/exports. Furthermore, it is likely that the import of petroleum products could decline in subsequent years; however, this is dependent on the prospects of the three domestic refineriesbeing refurbished.