The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Yemi Cardoso, has disclosed that capital importation has risen to $5.92 billion between January and June 2024.
He said this at a press briefing at the end of the 296th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja on Tuesday.
According to the CBN governor, the total capital importation increased from $1.77 billion in the same period of 2023. This suggests an increase of 234% year-on-year.
Cardoso said: “Capital importation between January and June, $5.92 billion relative to $1.77 billion for the corresponding period last year. That is all very positive for foreign exchange management.”
Based on the figures presented by the CBN governor, it appears that capital importation was $2.55 billion in the second quarter of 2024.
TheWitness earlier disclosed that Nigeria’s total capital importation rose by 210.16% from $1.08 billion recorded in Q4, 2023 to $3.37 billion in the first quarter of 2024. This was according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) capital importation report in the first quarter of 2024.
It means that out of the $5.92 billion recorded in the first six months of this year, $3.37 billion was from Q1 2024. This also suggests that on a quarter-on-quarter basis, capital importation will drop by 24% to $2.55 billion by Q2 2024.
The CBN governor also disclosed that inflows in the country have been on the rise.
He said: “On the foreign exchange side, because we all accept the fact that the foreign exchange pass-through is very significant, I am happy to say that we have seen positive outcomes from the tools we have been using over the recent past.
“For example, exchange rates have converged, limiting the opportunities for arbitrage. This is very important. Inflows have increased by 37.93% between January and May 2024 to $38.8 billion. Net inflows, more importantly, grew 73.4% in May 2024 compared to May 2023.”
Cardoso also disclosed that Diaspora remittances have gone up to $2.34 billion as of the end of June 2024 in comparison to $1.58 billion from the corresponding period last year.
TheWitness earlier reported that the CBN disclosed a 39% increase in inflows through International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) for the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.
This is according to data from the quarterly statistical bulletin of the CBN for the first quarter of 2024.
The total inflow for the first quarter of 2024 amounted to $1.07 billion, marking a 39% increase from the $770.23 million recorded in the same period of 2023.
When comparing Q1 2024 to the last quarter of 2023, which saw total inflows of $965.82 million, there is an increase of about 11%.
Recent reforms implemented by the CBN aimed at attracting more dollar supply seemed to have triggered the increase.
The CBN governor also disclosed that Nigeria’s external reserves increased to $37.05 billion as of July 18, 2024, from $34.70 billion as of the end of June 2024.
