Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 7)

External reserve dropped slightly by 0.6 per cent from $28.35 billion in January 22 to $28.19 billion in January 295. Considering the continuous decline, government has stepped up efforts towards financing the deficit in the proposed budget through borrowing. At the forex market, the official exchange rate remained unchanged at N197/$ while the naira depreciated at the parallel market by 2.36 percent from N297/$ to N304/$ between January 22 and 296. Despite the huge spread between the official and parallel market exchange rates, the monetary authorities maintained its fixed exchange rate regime at the official forex market. It is expected that if the demand pressure for dollar persists, the value of naira may decline in the near term.
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Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 6)

Latest figures of FDI flows to Nigeria show a decline of 27 per cent from $4.7 billion in 2014 to $3.4 billion in 20152, representing its lowest value since 2005. This decline is largely attributed to the oil price slump, which has generally increased uncertainty in the economy, with adverse effects on investors confidence. The fall in FDI flows was witnessed in most resource based economies in Africa, as FDI flows to the continent fell by 31 percent in 2015. The forex controls in place in Nigeria has also exacerbated the uncertainty in economy, and created obstacles for both domestic and foreign investors. Thus a review of the forex restrictions could send positive signals to investors.
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Trade And Foreign Direct Investment Nexus In West Africa: Does Export Category Matter?

This paper examines the effect of inward FDI in West Africa on exports to EU countries. It investigates from a host country perspective, the impact of FDI on different export categories: primary, intermediate, and final goods.
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Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 5)

All Share Index (ASI) and Market Capitalization declined by 13 percent to close at 23514.04 points and N8.09 trillion respectively at the end of the trade session on January 15. The huge drop in the Index, representing a 3-year low, led to the introduction of the Index Circuit Breakers Rule. While this policy measure may prevent huge losses in the stock market, rising concerns about macroeconomic stability in Nigeria may significantly increase the level of volatility in the stock market. This may have substantial adverse implications for investors in the Stock Exchange.
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Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 4)

The Naira/Dollar exchange rate remained unchanged at ?199/$ in the official market but depreciated from ?263/$ to $267 at the Bureau De Change (BDC) market segment this week. As the naira depreciates, the CBN forex restriction measures continue to widen the gap between the official rate and BDC, which has led to increased calls for naira devaluation. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Business owners are among the major advocates for a relaxation of the forex restrictions set by the CBN, in order to enhance the level of economic activities.
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Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 3)

The Nigeria stock market indices; All Share Index (ASI) and Market Capitalization declined by 2.4 percent to close at 26537.36 points and N9.12 trillion respectively at the end of the trade session this week8 The decline in the indices, which is attributed to the low subscription for stocks in the market, led to the partnership between Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Debt Management Office (DMO) to salvage the financial system.
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Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 2)

Inflation rate rose slightly to 9.4 percent in November 2015 from 9.3 percent in the previous month. This rise is attributed to price increase in Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, and Transportation costs which extends from shortages of petrol across the country. The food sub-index grew by 0.2 percentage points to 10. 1 percent while, the Core sub-index declined by 0.2 percentage points to 8.7 percent within the period. The inflationary up-tick points to the need to curtail the rising food prices by increasing the supply of petrol in the country. 
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Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 1)

GDP growth rate increased marginally by 2.84 percent in Q3 2015 from 2.35 percent in the preceding quarter. Nominal GDP increased to N24.3 million from N22.9 million in the preceding quarter. Growth in this period was attributed to the improved performance of the non-oil sector which grew by 3.05 percent. The Sectoral disaggregation shows that the Services and Agricultural sectors grew by 3.97 and 3.46 percent respectively, while the Manufacturing sector shrank by 1.75 percent.
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Nigeria Economic Review (First Half Report 2015)

The modest growth in the global output witnessed in the first quarter of 2015 was driven mainly by advanced economies, particularly the United States. Growth slowed down significantly in emerging and developing economies, primarily natural resource-dependent countries which were adversely affected by falling commodity prices.
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