Briefing Paper

Nigeria Economic Update Issue 29

This economic update informs about the following matters relating to the Nigerian Economy. The first article is about the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) which measures business performance and briefly discusses the decline in both the Manufacturing (by 8.5 index points) and Non-Manufacturing (by 4.5 index points) sectors. Both sectors performed below average for the sixth consecutive month. In the next article on the Crude Oil Price – the decrease of the OPEC weekly basket price is discussed which marginally decreased from $45.95 on June 24, 2016 to $45.26 on July 1, 2016, while Nigeria’s bonny light fell by $1, from $48.90 to $47.914. The apparent decline in the crude oil price was driven by lingering market demand uncertainty, following the unexpected Brexit referendum. The Stock Market. This article discussed the NSE All-share index and Market capitalization which both depreciated by 4.39% from June 24, 2016 to July 1, 2016. Precisely, All-share index fell from 30,649.66 points to 29,305.40, while Market Capitalization decreased marginally from N10.06 trillion, to close the week at N10.05 trillion. Also, all other indices recorded a decline in the review week. The last article on Foreign Exchange – discussed the depreciation of the Naira in all FOREX market segments from June 24, 2016 to July 1, 2016. Specifically, the Naira weakened at the inter-bank market by 0.19% (week-on-week) to close at N282.50/$8, and by 2.3% to N353/$ (parallel market rate).