By Adeleye Kunle
From $7.2 billion in February 2020, net foreign exchange (forex) inflows into the economy fell by 56% to $3.2 million in February 2022.
According to a Track News analysis of data from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, monthly Economic Report for the period under review, net forex inflows stood at $7.19 billion in February 2020, fell by 40% to $4.3 billion in February 2021, and fell by 26.5 percent to $3.16 billion in February 2022.
The steady decline in net forex inflow was caused by a 53% decline in forex inflow over a three-year period, reflecting the severe effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. This negated the positive impact of a 54% decrease in forex outflows during the period.
Total forex inflows fell by 43% to $6.3 billion in February 2022, from $7.5 billion in February 2021. Forex inflows fell by 44 percent in 2021, from $13.39 billion in February 2020.
Although total forex outflows through the economy increased marginally by 1.3% to $3.17 billion in February 2022 from $3.13 billion in February 2020, they fell by 54% from $6.9 billion in February 2020.
However, further investigation revealed that net inflows through the CBN increased by 255.6% to $200 million in February 2022, up from -$128.52 million in February 2020.
Net inflows through the CBN were -$128.52 million in February 2020, down 844 percent to -$957.24 million in February 2021, but up 120.8 percent to $200 million in February 2022.
Forex inflows through the CBN fell by 55% in February 2022, to $2.49 billion from $5.59 billion in February 2020.
Forex outflows through the apex bank, on the other hand, fell by 59% to $2.29 billion in February 2022 from $5.7 billion in February 2020.
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