ABUJA Nov 7 (Reuters) – The value of capital imported into Nigeria in the third quarter fell 34 percent year on year to $1.822 billion, data showed on Monday, as Africa’s biggest economy grapples with its first recession in more than 20 years.
With low crude prices causing the OPEC member state’s revenues to plummet, the central bank imposed forex controls last year to prevent a collapse of the naira currency.
The National Bureau of Statistics said foreign direct investment declined by 53 percent year-on-year and portfolio investment dropped by 9 percent.
Capital imported rose 75 percent from the second quarter, however. “Much of the quarterly increase …came from debt financing,” said the statistics office.
The banking sector imported the largest amount of capital — $556 million.
A shortage of hard currency has seen the naira fall to record lows on the parallel market in the last few months. (Reporting by Camillus Eboh and Alexis Akwagyiram; editing by John Stonestreet)
