CBN says record $91 billion entered Nigeria in 2017
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said the aggregate foreign exchange inflow into the country stood at $91 billion in 2017, a record compared with 2016.
The bank disclosed in its 2017 annual report released on Thursday that the figure was an increase of 45 per cent from $62.75 billion in 2016.
The bank also said the figure surpassed the total outflow by $57.32 billion in the period.
According to the bank, inflow through the CBN was $42.17 billion, while inflow through autonomous sources amounted to $48.33 billion.
In percentage terms, inflow through the CBN accounted for 46.3 per cent, while autonomous sources took 53.7 per cent.
Also, aggregate foreign exchange outflow, from the economy, increased by 31.8 per cent to U$33.68 billion, higher than the $25.55 billion in 2016.
The report said the outflow through the CBN accounted for 90.7 per cent, about $30.55 billion. It was $23.16 billion in 2016.
Outflow via autonomous sources was calculated at $3.13 billion
The increase was attribute to the increased intervention by the CBN in the inter-bank and Bureau De Change (BDC) segments of the foreign exchange market.
Meanwhile, the American Business Council (ABC) has disclosed that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of about 1.3 billion dollars flowed into the Nigerian economy from the US in 2017. This was revealed during the Launch of the 2018 US Economic Impact Survey on Wednesday in Lagos. Darrel McGraw, Vice President of ABC, said the survey carried out in collaboration with Accenture, KPMG, PwC and the US Embassy, assessed the overall economic impact of US companies in Nigeria. He said the survey reflected the contribution of 74 US companies operating in Nigeria and their responses reinforced the role the US played in the economic wellbeing of Nigeria. McGraw said the roles were in the areas of job creation, investments in training and development, tax contribution, and corporate social responsibility. According to him, the surveyed companies generated a revenue of over N2.6 trillion in 2017, from N1 trillion in 2016. He said they contributed N111 billion in tax to both the Federal and State Governments, created approximately 11,200 indirect jobs and over 9000 full time jobs in the year under review.
It would be recalled that the surveyed companies spent over N1.6 billion on training and development in 2017 from N340 million in 2016. “This shows US companies’ commitment in capacity building in order to correct the deficit in labour skills. “N1.5 billion was spent by the companies on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), from N217 million spent in 2016.