According to the Monthly Economic Report for February 2023 released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), net foreign exchange inflows in the country’s economy experienced a significant year-on-year increase of 22 percent, reaching $5.15 billion during the first two months of 2023. This marked an improvement from $4.22 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.
The report highlighted that aggregate forex inflows in the same period rose by 1.7 percent year-on-year, totaling $10.94 billion compared to $10.75 billion in the first two months of 2022.
The positive net position was largely driven by a noteworthy 11 percent decrease in total outflows, which amounted to $5.79 billion in the first two months of 2023, down from N6.53 billion in the same period of the previous year.
Specifically, the data revealed that inflows through the CBN experienced a slight year-on-year increase of 1.4 percent, reaching $4.37 billion in the first two months of 2023 compared to $4.31 billion in the corresponding period of 2022. On the other hand, outflows through the CBN declined by 2.6 percent to $4.76 billion in the first two months of 2023, down from $4.89 billion in the same period of the previous year.
In terms of monthly comparisons, the CBN stated that net foreign exchange inflows in February saw a 5.2 percent increase from January 2023, totaling $2.64 billion, largely driven by a rise in inflows through the CBN.
The CBN’s official statement indicated, “Foreign exchange flow through the economy recorded a net inflow of $2.64 billion in February, compared with $2.51 billion in the preceding period.
Aggregate foreign exchange inflow into the economy increased by 7.2 percent to $5.66 billion in February, from $5.28 billion in the preceding month. Similarly, foreign exchange outflows rose by 9.0 percent to $3.02 billion in February, from $2.77 billion in the previous month.”
The report further revealed that foreign exchange inflows through the CBN experienced a significant month-on-month increase of 37.7 percent, reaching $2.53 billion in February, up from $1.84 billion in January. Conversely, outflows through the CBN rose by 7.0 percent to $2.46 billion compared to $2.30 billion in January.
However, autonomous inflows saw a 9.1 percent decrease to $3.12 billion in February, down from $3.44 billion in the previous month. Autonomous outflows, on the other hand, increased to $0.56 billion from $0.47 billion in January. As a result, a net inflow of $2.56 billion was recorded through autonomous sources in February, compared to $2.97 billion in January.