June 24, (THEWILL) – Foreign exchange inflow into the economy fell by 39 per cent month-on-month (M-o-M) to $2.37 billion in January from $3.91 billion in December 2024, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said..
The CBN disclosed this in its monthly economic report for January released Friday. The report showed that the sharp decline in net forex inflow was caused by 95.7 per cent M-o-M increase in forex outflow from the economy.
The CBN said: “The economy recorded a lower net foreign exchange inflow in January, as inflow through the bank and autonomous sources declined. A lower net inflow of $2.37 billion was recorded relative to $3.91 billion in December 2023.
“Aggregate foreign exchange inflow into the economy decreased by 6.1 per cent to $4.87 billion from $5.19 billion in the preceding month.
“In contrast, the foreign exchange outflows rose by 95.7 per cent to $2.50 billion from $1.28 billion in the preceding month. Foreign exchange inflow through the bank fell by 13.8 per cent to $1.39 billion from $1.61 billion in December 2023. Outflow through the bank, however, rose by 146.9 per cent to $2.21 billion from $0.89 billion in the preceding month.
“Conversely, autonomous inflow fell by 2.7 per cent to $3.48 billion from $3.58 billion in the preceding month. Autonomous outflow also fell by 23.5 per cent to $0.29 billion, from $0.83 billion in December 2023.
“A net inflow of US$3.08 billion was recorded through autonomous sources, compared with $3.22 billion in December 2023. The CBN recorded a net outflow of $0.82 billion, in contrast to a net inflow of US$0.72 billion in the preceding month.
“The average foreign exchange turnover at the NFEM window decreased by 10.2 per cent to $103.91 million, from $115.72 million in December 2023.”
The sharp decline in net forex inflow in January reflects the forex scarcity that triggered 60 per cent depreciation of the naira in the official market during the month.
Data from FMDQ showed that the official exchange rate rose to N1, 455.59 per dollar at the end of January from N907.11 per dollar traded at the end of December 2023.
In the same vein, the naira depreciated by 22.6 per cent in the parallel market where the exchange rate rose to N1,490 per dollar at the end of January 2024 from N1,215 per dollar at the end of December 2023.
Analysts insist that without creating a favourable operating environment to rekindle confidence in the economy, net forex inflow would remain a dream pipe.
Sam Diala is a Bloomberg Certified Financial Journalist with over a decade of experience in reporting Business and Economy. He is Business Editor at THEWILL Newspaper, and believes that work, not wishes, creates wealth.
