The Central Bank of Nigeria has disclosed that capital importation into the country fell by 32 per cent to $500m in October 2021, from $660m recorded in September. The CBN disclosed these figures in its latest monthly economic report (October) recently released on the bank’s official website. The decline is a negative turnaround from the increase recorded in September when capital inflow rose by $220m from $440m in August. The report also shows that there is a corresponding decline in investment inflows from the United Kingdom, South Africa and other countries leading the pack in capital importation into Nigeria. A breakdown of the inflows recorded in October shows that foreign portfolio investments dominated capital importation with a value of $330m.The CBN said, “New capital importation decreased by 32.0 per cent to US$0.50bn in October 2021, from US$0.66bn in September 2021.“Disaggregation of capital importation by type of investment shows that foreign portfolio investment inflow (mainly money market instruments), at US$0.33bn, decreased by 34.0 per cent, relative to the US$0.50bn in September 2021.“Despite the decline, portfolio inflow remained dominant in total foreign investment, accounting for 65.0 per cent.“The inflow of other investments, mostly loans, was US$0.14bn or 28.2 per cent of the total, a slight increase from US$0.13bn in September 2021.

Punch