The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Friday published its Balance of Payments (BOP) Statistics for the first quarter ended March 2018, indicating that the nation recorded a surplus overall, just as Current Account Balance (CAB), compared to the corresponding period of last year and the previous quarter (2017Q4).

The report, prepared by the BOP Statistics Office, External Sector Statistics Division, Statistics Department of the CBN, also showed an increase in portfolio inflow, just as investment in liabilities rose.

According to the report, provisional BOP estimates for Q1 2018 indicated $7.321bn surplus, up by $1.141bn or 18.47% from the US$6.18bn recorded in the preceding

quarter. It was however more significant, when compared to the US$2.975.bn recorded in the corresponding period of 2017, representing a $4.345bn or 146.03% growth.

The current account balance (CAB) for the period also improved significantly from a surplus of $3.656bn in Q4 2017 to $4.468bn in Q1 2018, just as the financial account balance showed a net acquisition of financial assets of $10.292bn in the review period. This improved by $6.434bn or 166.74% from $3.858bn recorded in the preceding period.

“The current account witnessed a positive outcome during the review period, recording a higher surplus of $4,468.61 million as against a surplus of $3,656.15 million and

$3,417.37 million in the previous quarter and corresponding period of 2017, respectively.

“This development was largely attributable to the increased export earnings and the

net surplus in current transfers,” report added.

There was also surplus in the Goods Account, which increased to $5.752bn, as against $5.472bn in the preceding quarter, just as it was $3.481bn or 153.28% better than the $2.271bn recorded in the corresponding period of 2017.

The nation’s export earnings rose by 10.2% to $14.393bn in Q1 2018, when compared with Q4 2017, just as it indicated a 44.4% increase when compared to Q1 2017. “Earnings from crude oil and gas, which accounted for 93.3% of total export earnings during the review period, increased by 10.1 per cent to $13.426bn in Q1 2018 when compared with the preceding quarter.”

Also, earnings from non-oil and electricity exports for the period climbed 12.3% to $967.08m in Q1 2018 when compared with the preceding quarter.

Payments for import of goods (fob) to the economy in the review period, the CBN said, citing available data, grew by 13.9% to US$8.641bn above the level recorded in the

preceding period.

This, it continued, “was largely as a result of 99.5% increase in the imports of petroleum products,” even as net out-payments for services during the review period fell by 5.1% to a deficit of $4.445bn when compared with the level recorded in Q4 2017.  In the corresponding period of 2017, however, it indicated a significantly increase of about 201.2%; just as income account (net) worsened to a debit of $3,272.17m in the review period from $2.983bn recorded in the preceding period.

This, the report continued, “is significantly different from US$2,278.33 million recorded in the corresponding period of 2017.

“Current transfers (net) increased by 9.9 and 31.3% to a surplus of US$6.434bn in Q1 2018, when compared with the levels in the preceding quarter of 2017 and corresponding period of 2017, respectively.

Direct Investments inflow declined during the period by 15.7% and 5.3% to US$808.56m, when compared with the preceding quarter and corresponding period of 2017, while on the other hand, “Portfolio Investments inflow to the economy increased to $5.141bn in Q1 2018 from $3.787bn and $438.47m, when compared with the preceding quarter and corresponding period of 2017, respectively.

“Other investment liabilities increased to $6.637bn when compared with the level in the preceding quarter of US$23.71m,” noting that the nation’s stock of external reserves as at end March 2018 stood at $46.73bn, representing an accretion of 18.7%, when compared with the preceding quarter. When compared with the corresponding period of 2017, it recorded a higher accretion of 55.8% and enough to finance approximately 16.2 months of imports, compared with 15.6 and 11.7 months of imports cover for the preceding quarter and corresponding period of 2017, respectively.