By Okechukwu Nnodim

Nigeria’s net foreign exchange inflow in the first quarter of 2011 amounted to $1.16bn, an improvement compared to the $2.16bn net outflow recorded in the preceding quarter.

The Central Bank of Nigeria, in its Economic Report for the first quarter of 2011, said foreign exchange inflow and outflow through the apex bank for the period under review were $10.72bn and $9.56bn, respectively.

The regulatory bank noted that relative to the levels of $7.31, and $9.47bn in the preceding quarter, inflow and outflow rose by 46.6 and 1.1 per cent respectively.

The bank said “Provisional data indicated that foreign exchange through the CBN in the first quarter of 2011 rose by 46.6 and 64.4 per cent over the levels in the preceding quarter and the corresponding quarter of 2010, respectively.

“Outflow rose by 1.1 and 26.3 per cent over the levels in the preceding quarter and the corresponding quarter of 2010, respectively.”

The report noted that the rise in inflow was attributed to the 321.5 and 36.9 per cent increase in non-oil receipts and crude oil sales, while outflow rose due, largely, to the 14.6 per cent increase in WDAS (Wholesale Dutch Auction System) utilisation.

CBN said available data on aggregate foreign exchange flows through the economy indicated that total inflow amounted to $27.96bn, representing an increase of 5.7 and 27.7 per cent, respectively, over the levels in the preceding quarter and corresponding quarter of 2010.

Explaining the economic impact of the net rise in the nation’s foreign exchange inflow, the Former Acting Head, Department of Economics, University of Lagos, and Research Professor and Consultant Economist, Prof. Kayode Familoni, told our correspondent that the country was bound to experience considerable development.

He said, “A net foreign exchange inflow of $1.16bn shows that at least our foreign exchange is improving, and also the capacity to import and carry out production processes in the country is going to be enhanced.

“This means that capacity to increase employment will definitely rise, and once that is guaranteed, there will be a larger economic improvement; which of course is a signal for positive growth and shows that at least the indices are moving in the right direction.”

Meanwhile, the CBN noted that oil sector receipt which accounted for 34.6 per cent of the total, stood at $9.67bn, compared with the respective levels of $7.06bn and $6.00bn in the preceding quarter and corresponding quarter of 2010.

“Non-oil public sector inflows, which accounted for 3.7 per cent of the total foreign exchange flows, rose significantly, from the preceding quarter’s level by 321.5 per cent, while autonomous inflows, which accounted for 61.7 per cent, declined by 9.9 per cent from the preceding quarter’s level,” the bank added.

Source: Punch