Non-oil export drops on Russian-Ukrainian war uncertainties
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Non-oil export dropped 18.5 per cent to $0.74 billion relative to its value in March, slashed by sluggish global demand caused by the uncertainties embedded in the Russian war in Ukraine.
Trade surplus also declined 50.8 per cent month-on-month (MoM) to $930 million in April from $1.89 billion in March, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in its newly released Monthly Economic Report for April.
The report spotted an 8.4 per cent dip in total trade to $10.79 billion in April from $11.78 billion in March as well as a 15 per cent slash MoM in crude oil export to $4.51 billion in April from $5.32 billion in March.
The CBN explained that “weaker global growth concerns amid global inflation pressures and uncertainties in the international crude oil market, led to a decline in general trade performance in April 2022.
“Consequently, Nigeria’s total trade declined by 8.4 per cent to $10.79 billion from $11.78 billion in March 2022.
“The development led to a decline in the trade surplus by 50.8 per cent to $0.93 billion in the review period from $1.89 billion in the preceding month.
“A disaggregation showed that aggregate export receipts fell by 14.3 per cent to $5.38 billion from $6.29 billion in March. Similarly, merchandise import fell marginally by 0.3 per cent to $4.07 billion, from $4.08 billion in the preceding month.”
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Oil and gas export
“Accordingly, aggregate crude oil and gas export receipts of $5.12 billion was recorded, compared with $5.92 billion in March, indicating a decrease of 13.6 per cent.
“A disaggregation shows that crude oil export receipts fell by 15.3 per cent to $4.51 billion, relative to $5.32 billion in March, driven, majorly, by the decrease in the price of Nigeria’s reference crude, the Bonny Light,” the CBN said, per Vanguard.
Non-oil export
“The performance of non-oil export was dampened by weakened global demand following uncertainties in Eastern Europe. Hence the data reflected 18.5 per cent reduction in non-oil export receipts to $0.74 billion, relative to its value in March.
“Growing supply chain disruptions and attendant commodity price increases moderated merchandise import during the review period.
“Aggregate import decreased marginally by 0.3 per cent to $4.93 billion in April 2022, compared with $4.94 billion in March.’’