CBN puts Nigeria’s net foreign assets at 7.38%

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The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria said has said that Nigeria’s total net assets grew by 7.38 per cent in April 2018.

This annualised to 22.13per cent, when compared with the provisional benchmark of 18.15 per cent.

According to the monetary policy communiqué after its meeting last week, narrow money, contracted by 3.31 per cent annualised to -9.94 per cent, compared with the provisional benchmark of 8.04 per cent.

The apex bank said improvements in the domestic  economy, attributable to the  steady decline  in inflation,  rebound  in  oil  prices  and increase  in production  level, as  well  as the continued  stability  in  the  foreign  exchange market.

According  to  the MPC, data  from  the  National  Bureau  of Statistics,  real Gross Domestic Product for fourth quarter 2017 was revised upwards from 1.92 per cent to 2.11 per cent, while a growth of 1.95 per cent was recorded in the first quarter of 2018, up from a contraction of 0.91 per cent in the corresponding period  of  2017.

The bankers explained that the development was due to growth in the oil  and  non-oil sectors   by   14.77   and   0.76   per cent, respectively, noting that  the   sustained  positive   outlook   was based   on   the manufacturing, and non-manufacturing purchasing managers’ Indices, which rose for thirteenth and twelfth consecutive months to 56.9 and 57.5 index points in April 2018.

The committee welcomed this development, but believed that growth remained largely fragile and could benefit from further reforms and stimulus.

The macroeconomic environment that propelled the economy’s exit from recession has remained positive and is likely to continue in the near-term.

The bankers explained that the expectation was premised on speedy implementation of the 2018 budget, improved security, continued stability in the foreign exchange market as well as increase in crude oil production and prices.