The amount of foreign exchange that came into Nigeria in Q3 2021, skyrocketed by 64 percent to $30.18 billion compared to $18.4 billion recorded in the previous quarter, a surge attributed to newly acquired federal government loans.
According to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) statistical bulletin for Q3 2021, Dollar inflow of $30.18 billion in the third quarter of 2021, represents the highest quarterly inflow recorded by Nigeria since the first quarter of 2020, before the effect of the covid-19 pandemic.
Similarly, on a year-on-year basis, the inflow increased by 14 percent compared to $26.47 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2020.
During the period under review, the Nigerian government secured two external loans, which summed up to $7.34 billion, representing $3.34 billion IMF Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) in August and $4 billion Eurobond in September 2021.
Inflows through the Central Bank of Nigeria stood at $16.83 billion, which accounts for 55.8 percent of the total FX inflow in the review period.
Also, the $16.83 billion inflow through the CBN in the third quarter of 2021 is 158 percent and
141 percent higher than $6.51 billion and $6.98 billion recorded in the second quarter of 2021 and third quarter of 2020 respectively.
Inflows from autonomous sources at $13.35 billion, accounted for 44.2 percent of the total inflows. In contrast to the previous quarter, it increased by 12 percent compared to $11.89 billion recorded in the second quarter of 2021.
On the other hand, inflows through autonomous sources, declined by 32 percent compared to $19.49 billion recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year.
Autonomous sources of FX include foreign exchange received from the exportation of non-oil items, capital inflows and invisibles. A further breakdown shows that indivisibles, also includes capital importations, remittances, and other OTC purchases.
Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria has continued to intervene in the official forex market, following the on the sale of FX to BDC operators in the country. In the same vein, a total of $32 billion exchanged hands in the official Window, while the CBN supplied a sum of $13.16 million to the market between January and September 2021.
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s total foreign exchange sales to authorized dealers (deposit money banks) declined to $1.65 billion in August 2021 from $2.05 billion in July 2021.
A breakdown shows that foreign exchange sales to interbank, Swap transactions and SME interventions rose by 63.5 per cent, 72.3 per cent, and 42.5 per cent to US$0.28 billion, US$0.46 billion, and US$0.17 billion, respectively.
