Nigeria’s economy witnessed a shortage of foreign exchange (FX) inflow in the first half of 2023 as net FX inflow dropped from $15.86 billion recorded in the first half of 2022 to $7.29 billion in the corresponding period in 2023.
The decline in net FX inflow during the period indicated a Year-on-Year YoY drop of 54%.
Further details from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Statistical Bulletin for June 2023 also revealed that there was a YoY drop of 55% in FX inflow into the economy from $37.88 billion recorded in H1’22 to $17.17 billion in H1’23
The CBN also recorded FX outflow of $1.69 billion in H1, 2023, a situation which further explained the dollar shortage currently being witnessed in the country.
Similarly, FX outflow fell 55% YoY to $9.89 billion in H1’23 from $22.02 billion in H1’22.
This indicated a drop in the net FX inflow by 54%, YoY, to $7.29 billion in H1’23 from $15.86 billion in the corresponding period in 2022.
When the source of the FX inflow, the CBN and autonomous sources were analysed, it was observed that the FX inflow through the autonomous sources witnessed a YoY drop of 54% from $21.7 billion in H1’22 to $10 billion in H1’23. FX outflow also declined by 80% YoY from $5.13 billion in H1’22 to $1.03 billion in H1’23
When the net FX inflow was analysed, a 45% YoY drop was observed from $16.34 billion in H1’22 to $8.97 billion in H1’23.
For the CBN, FX inflow dropped by 56% to $7.17 billion in H1’23 from $16.4 billion in H1’22.
For the CBN FX outflow, a YoY drop of 48% was observed from $16.89 billion in H1’22, to $8.86 billion in H1’23.
Consequently, the net FX outflow from the CBN was recorded as $1.69 billion in H1’23, representing a huge 245% decline from the $490 million net FX outflow it recorded in H1’22.