Foreign exchange inflow falls by 43.2% –CBN

The inflow of foreign exchange into Nigeria shrank by 43.2 per cent to $5.52 billion in May as Africa’s biggest economy took a battering from a record crash in the prices of oil, which provides over 90 per cent of its foreign exchange earnings, in April, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said on Tuesday in its monthly economic report for May.

“Inflows through the CBN and autonomous sources were negatively impacted.

“On a month-on-month basis, foreign exchange flows into the economy declined to $5.52bn in May 2020.

“The decline in inflow, relative to the level in April 2020, was attributed to the lower receipts from oil sources, which fell sharply by 55.2 per cent because of the continued fragility in global crude oil demand,” the report said.

It noted that inflow via autonomous sources, especially invisible purchases dropped by 7% to $3.51 billion compared to the previous month while there was a 66.2% slump in inflow through the CBN, which stood at $2.01 billion in May.

Aggregate forex outflows from Nigeria eased by 23.9% to $2.50 billion in the review period.

Nevertheless, outflows through the CBN contracted by 30.9% to $2.19 billion compared to the previous month’s level.

In contrast, outflow through independent sources, mainly imports and invisibles, soared by 152.2% to $0.32 billion above the level attained in April on account of the partial relaxation of lockdown measures.