Macroeconomic Report & Economic Updates

OPEC Monthly oil report reveals that Nigeria recorded the highest month-on-month increase in crude oil production among the OPEC member countries in August 2017. Specifically, at an increasing rate of 8 percent, domestic oil production rose to pre-2016 level of 1.86 million barrels per day in August 2017. With ongoing repairs in the sector, oil production could get to 2.2 million barrels per day in the near term, albeit the prior voluntary agreement to cap production at 1.8 million barrels per day. Going forward, there is need to address poor planning and policy inconsistencies in the sector, in order to ensure the influx of investors who have channeled their investments to other African countries due to laxity in policies in the sector.

Recently released GDP figures reveals that the three major sectors recorded positive and negative growth rates individually in 2017Q2. Firstly, Agricultural sector grew Year on Year by 3.01 percent, down from 3.39 percent in 2017Q1- driven by weaker output in crop production and Fishing sub-sectors. This is not unconnected with the planting season and the shortage of grainsfor livestock/fish respectively.

The global economy grew by 2.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016 (2016Q4) relative to 2.5 percent in 2016Q3, due to rising investment and consumption demands in developed and emerging economies as well as a rise in commodity prices. However, over the entire year, global GDP growth stood at 2.6 percent in 2016, relative to the growth of 3.09 percent recorded in 2015. Notably, output grew progressively in the US over the year, while the steady growth recorded in the UK since the start of the year stalled in 2016Q4. Also, the declining growth recorded in France since 2015 took a positive turn in 2016Q4, the rest of the Eurozone witnessed a fall in output in the quarter. While emerging economies recorded mixed experiences, many Sub-Saharan African countries showed signs of recovery in the period.

Nigeria's Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 0.55 percent in 2017Q21, compared to the -0.91 percent (revised) in 2017Q1 indicating the first quarterly positive growth rate since 2016Q1 and an evidenced exit from five quarters of economic recession. The acceleration in real GDP in 2017Q2 reflects the significant increase in oil sector GDP from -11.64 percent in 2017Q1, to 1.64 percent in 2017Q2 a 13.3 percentage points Quarter-on-Quarter increase. However, Non-oil GDP moderated by 0.3 percentage points to 0.45 percent. Despite the recent favorable economic performance, growth prospect remains fragile.

Recently released report by the National Bureau of Statistics shows that Nigeria recorded remarkable Year-on-Year (YoY) and Quarter-over-Quarter (QoQ) increase in capital importation. Total capital importation stood at $1,792.3 million in 2017Q2, representing 72 percent YoY and 97 percent QoQ growths respectively. Disaggregated data points to portfolio investment as the dominant type of investment imported, with a value of $770.5 million, 43 percent of total capital importation. The increase in capital importation was driven by 145 percent QoQ surge in portfolio investment and a remarkable increase in capital imported through shares.