Macroeconomic Report & Economic Updates

According to OPEC's monthly report on crude oil movement, the price of crude oil dropped significantly in the global market in June. In particular, the OPEC Reference Basket fell by 0.8 percent (63 cents) from $75.82 per barrel in May to $75.19 per barrel. Similarly, the monthly averages for ICE Brent and New
York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) Western Texas Intermediate (WTI) dropped from $75.69 per barrel and $71.62 per barrel in May to $74.98 per barrel and 70.27 per barrel, respectively.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) reported in its last monthly oil market report that Nigeria produced 1.18 million barrels per day (mbpd) in crude oil for May 2023. This indicates a 185,000bpd increase over the 999,000bpd made in April, based on data from direct communication. Following this improved output, Nigeria has now reclaimed its top spot as Africa's highest crude oil
supplier/producer, toppling Angola by 73,000bpd.

Data released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on ‘MoData released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on ‘Money and Credit Statistics’ has shown that credit from banks to the government fell in May 2023. The data shows that on a month-on-month basis, banks’ credit to the government fell by N70 billion (0.22 percent) to N30.69 trillion in May 2023 from N30.76 trillion in April 2023. However, credit to the private sector increased MoM by five percent to N44.2 trillion in May 2023 from N43.6 trillion in April 2023ney and Credit Statistics’ has shown that credit from banks to the government fell in May 2023. The data shows that on a month-on-month basis, banks’ credit to the government fell by N70 billion (0.22 percent) to N30.69 trillion in May 2023 from N30.76 trillion in April 2023. However, credit to the private sector increased MoM by five percent to N44.2 trillion in May 2023 from N43.6 trillion in April 2023

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has made repeated attempts to contain the inflationary spike by gradually raising the monetary policy rate to 18.5 percent. However, the inflation rate is still persistently high in May 2023. According to the report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the inflation rate increased by 0.19 percent on a monthly basis, from 22.22 percent to 22.41 percent in May 2023. 

Following the new government’s plan to unify multiple exchange rates in the foreign exchange (forex) market, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has taken the monetary policy decision of floating the Naira. In its latest press release, the apex bank declared some operational changes in the forex market. This includes the abolishment of segmentation and collapsing of all segments in the market into the Investors & Exporters (I&E) window, thus, granting commercial banks and other authorised dealers the green light to sell forex at free, market-determined rates.