Briefing Paper

Nigeria Economic Update Issue 30

This brief report discusses several matters regarding the Nigerian economy. The first article is about Crude oil – it discusses the significant decline of Nigeria’s bonny light price by 5.2% from $47.91 per barrel on July 1, 2016 to $45.41 per barrel on July 8, 2016. The OPEC weekly basket price also decreased by 2.1% to $44.31 within the same period. The second article is about the Stock Market – it talks about the all-share index and the decline of the market capitalization by 1.54% between July 1, 2016 and July 8, 2016. Specifically, the ASI fell by 450.42 points to 28,854.98 points, while Market Capitalization decreased by N140 billion to close at N9.91 trillion. The next article on Foreign Exchange – discusses the Naira/dollar exchange rate which continued to be relatively stable in the parallel market segment at the average rate of N352/$ between July 1, 2016 and July 8, 20168. The interbank rate averaged N282/$9.The relative stability is likely attributed to moderation in speculatory demand for FOREX due to relaxed business activities occasioned by the public holiday in the week. Power Sector – Power sector analysis shows an increase in power generated by 3.01 % from 2903.5mw to 2991.8mw between July 1, 2016 and July 8, 2016, with a peak of 3260.8mw on July 5, 2016. This is however, still below the highest (5074.7mw) recorded in February, 2016. The increase reflects improved use of hydro (water) for power generation.