Net Foreign Inflow Hit $9.35bn In February – CBN

The nation’s economy recorded a net foreign exchange inflow of $9.35bn in February.

The Central Bank of Nigeria disclosed this in its February monthly report.

It said, “Foreign exchange flows through the economy resulted in a net inflow of $9.35bn in the review period, compared with $9.99bn and $4.58bn at end-January 2020 and end-February 2019, respectively.”

It said the external sector performance declined in February due to the 11.7 per cent decrease in the international price of crude oil to $58.45 per barrel.

This was attributed mainly to the continuous spread of COVID-19.

Consequently, the CBN added, aggregate foreign exchange inflow into the economy amounted to $16.19bn, indicating a decrease of 4.4 per cent, compared with the preceding month.

It was, however, 61.7 per cent higher than that of the corresponding period of 2019.

The development relative to the preceding month reflected the decline of 8.6 per cent and 2.5 per cent in inflow through the bank and autonomous sources, respectively.

Aggregate foreign exchange outflow from the economy, at $6.84bn, fell by 1.5 per cent, compared with the preceding month.

It was, however, 26.0 per cent higher than that of the corresponding period of 2019.

The development was attributed mainly to the 1.7 per cent decline in outflow through the bank.

The CBN noted that this led to foreign exchange flows through the economy resulting in a net inflow of $9.35bn, compared with $9.99bn and $4.58bn at the end of January and February, respectively.

At $4.82bn, aggregate foreign exchange inflow into the CBN fell by 8.6 per cent and 7.8 per cent, relative to the levels in the preceding month and the corresponding period of 2019, respectively.

The decline in aggregate foreign exchange inflow into the bank, relative to the preceding month’s level, was attributed largely to the fall in both oil and non-oil receipts.