The foreign direct investment imported into Nigeria, the most populous black nation in the world has crashed by 53 per cent as it continues to grapple with the effect of recession, foreign exchange and inflation.
The value of capital imported into Nigeria in the third quarter fell 34 per cent year on year to $1.822 billion, data showed on Monday, as Africa’s biggest economy grapples with its first recession in more than 20 years.
With low crude prices causing the OPEC member state’s revenues to plummet, the central bank imposed forex controls last year to prevent a collapse of the naira currency.
The National Bureau of Statistics said foreign direct investment declined by 53 percent year-on-year and portfolio investment dropped by 9 per cent.
Capital imported rose 75 per cent from the second quarter, however. “Much of the quarterly increase …came from debt financing,” said the statistics office.
The banking sector imported the largest amount of capital — $556 million.
A shortage of hard currency has seen the naira fall to record lows on the parallel market in the last few months.
Nigeria’s annual inflation in Nigeria accelerated to 17.6 per cent in August, a fresh 11-year high and the seventh monthly increase in a row, as the crisis in Africa’s biggest economy deepens.
The rise from 17.1 per cent in July reflected higher prices for electricity, gas, transport and food, a separate index for which rose to 16.4 percent from July’s 15.8 per cent, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Friday.
“During the month, the highest increases were seen in solid fuels, vehicles parts, books and stationeries and clothing,” the NBS said in a statement.
Africa’s most populous nation has seen its economy slide into recession for the first time in more than 20 years, largely due to the impact of low oil prices.
Crude oil sales account for 70 percent of government revenue.
These problems have been exacerbated by a spate of attacks since the start of the year that have cut oil production by around 700,000 bpd from 2.1 million barrels per day (bpd) at the start of the year.
