Nigeria’s recorded a Balance of Payment surplus of $2.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2018, an improvement over the deficit BOP of $1.54 billion in Q3 2018.
According to the Central Bank of Nigeria in its fourth quarter 2018 Economic report, the provisional balance of payments estimates for Q4 2018 showed a significant improvement in the BOP outcome as the overall balance of payments recorded a surplus of $2.8 million compared to a huge deficit of $4.54 billion and a surplus of $6.18 billion recorded in the preceding quarter and corresponding period of 2017 respectively.
The report further noted that the financial account balance indicated a net acquisition of financial assets of $2.32 billion in the review period as against net incurrence of financial liabilities of $4.61 billion recorded in the preceding period.
The current account indicated a positive outcome during the review period, recording a surplus of $1.10 billion as against a deficit of $1.54 billion and a surplus of $3.65 billion in the previous quarter and the corresponding period of 2017 respectively.
This development was largely attributable to the decrease in imports and payments on income.
According to the CBN, direct investments inflow decreased by 28.3 per cent to $314.44 million when compared with the preceding quarter of 2018.
It, however, indicated a decline of 67.2 per cent when compared to the corresponding period of 2017.
