Nigeria’s trade deficit fell from $2.4bn to $340m in July, this is according to figures released by the Central Bank of Nigeria on Sunday.
The CBN revealed this in its July economic trade performance report stating that the improvement came about as a result of reduction in imports.
It stated, “Trade balance improved in July 2021, resulting from risk sentiments emanating from the spread of the Delta-variant of COVID-19, which subdued imports.
“A lower trade deficit of $0.34bn was recorded in July 2021, compared with $2.4bn in June 2021.
“Aggregate export increased marginally by 0.2 per cent to $4.45bn, while total import declined significantly by 30 per cent to $4.8bn, compared with $4.44bn and $6.85bn, respectively, in June 2021.”
The apaex bank noted that Nigeria’s crude oil and gas export revenue fell due largely to lower than-expected gas export.
It also noted that the value of crude oil and gas export slumped by one per cent to $3.99bn, compared with $4.04bn in June 2021.
A analysis showed that the value of gas export decreased by 17.9 per cent to $460m.
The slump in gas export was largely attributed to the lower export of liquefied petroleum gas in the review period .It further stated that the value of crude oil export, on the other hand, rose by 1.7 per cent to $3.53bn in July 2021.
The report said, “The increase in crude oil receipts was due, majorly, to improvement in both price and production to $75.93 pb and 1.50 mbpd in July 2021, relative to $73.46 pb and 1.47 mbpd in June 2021.
“Crude oil and gas exports component remained dominant, contributing 89.7 per cent of total exports, with oil accounting for 79.3 per cent and gas export 10.4 per cent.”
