According to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigerians spent a total of $39.66bn on foreign education and healthcare-related services between 2010 and 2020.
According to CBN’s Balance of Payments, Nigerian parents and guardians paid about $28.65bn for their wards to study abroad during the period under review.
The BoP report also unveiled that Nigerians paid $11.01bn for healthcare-related services in foreign countries.
The amount spent on these foreign services is almost equivalent to the current value of the country’s foreign reserves which stood at $39.51bn as of March 23, signifying its high cost.
These statistics and their impacts were cited in a financial report released last week titled, “A Simple and Factual Explanation of Nigeria’s Exchange Rate Dynamics”
According to the report, the high cost of these services has drastically increased the demand for foreign exchange in the country, which has put a strain on the value of the naira to the dollar.
The report which seeks to provide answers to questions on the continuous rise and fall of Nigeria’s exchange rate explained that the exchange rate of the naira is the price of the dominant foreign currency in the country – the US dollars.
On demand, the report explained that factors such as the cost of foreign education, healthcare, and a large import bill had had major impacts on the increase in the demand for foreign exchange in the country.
It added that the factors had also greatly contributed to the weakening of the naira.
While lauding the efforts of the CBN to stabilise the naira through the introduction of policies in critical sectors of the economy, the report noted that the task of stabilising the country’s exchange rate shouldn’t be left to the apex bank alone as it requires the collective effort of every Nigerian.
The report recommended a strong production base that will enable the country to produce goods and services that the rest of the world will be willing to buy, which will, in turn, increase the supply of dollars into the Nigerian economy.
