Nigeria’s oil importation dropped to $2.79bn from $4.31bn in Q2 of 2024. This amounts to $1.52bn decline or a 35 per cent decline.

This development was contained in the Central Bank of Nigeria’s quarterly economic report for the second quarter of 2024 released recently.

This reduction highlights shifting dynamics in the nation’s oil and gas sector amid ongoing structural and economic adjustments following the removal of fuel subsidies under the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

The report also noted that the overall value of merchandise imports contracted, falling by 20.59 per cent to $8.64bn from $10.88bn recorded in Q1 2024.

The sharp decline in oil imports contributed significantly to this trend, the report noted.

The report reads: “Merchandise import decreased in Q2 2024, following the decline in the import of petroleum products. Merchandise imports decreased by 20.59 per cent to $8.64bn, from $10.88bn in Q12024.

“Analysis by composition indicated that oil imports decreased to $2.79bn, from $4.31bn in the preceding quarter.

“Non-oil imports also declined to $5.85bn, from $6.57bn in the previous quarter. A breakdown of total import showed that non-oil imports accounted for 67.72 per cent, while oil imports constituted the balance.”

The Naira depreciated against the dollar on Friday at the foreign exchange market to end the week on a negative note.

FMDQ data showed that the weakened to N1678.87 per dollar on Friday from the N1639.50 exchange rate on Thursday.

This represents a N39.37 depreciation against the dollar compared to N1678.87 exchanged on Thursday.

Meanwhile, at the parallel market, the naira gained N10 to exchange at N1740 per dollar on Friday compared to N1750 recorded the previous day.

The development comes as Foreign Exchange transactions turnover surged astronomically to $1403.76 million on Friday from $244.96 million on Thursday, according to FMDQ data.

DAILY POST reports that in the week under review, the naira recorded mixed sentiments of gains and losses.

This showed Naira had continued to experience fluatuations in the FX marketers despite the Central Bank of Nigeria interventions.

Recall that on Wednesday, CBN authorised commercial, merchant, and non-interest banks in the country to manage tradeable foreign currencies deposited in domiciliary accounts established through the new Foreign Currency Disclosure, Deposit, Repatriation, and Investment Scheme.

The Bank of England on Thursday said it was cutting its key interest further after UK inflation hit a three-year low and signalled more reductions.

As widely expected, the BoE trimmed borrowing costs by 25 basis points to 4.75 percent at a regular policy meeting, its second reduction since August. The US Federal Reserve is set to reduce rates later in the day.

“We have been able to cut interest rates again” after UK annual inflation fell below the BoE’s target, the central bank’s governor Andrew Bailey said in a statement.

The Consumer Prices Index in Britain stands at 1.7 percent, the lowest level since 2021 and below the two-percent target.

“We need to make sure inflation stays close to target, so we can’t cut interest rates too quickly or by too much,” Bailey cautioned.

“But if the economy evolves as we expect it’s likely that interest rates will continue to fall gradually from here.”

Major central banks started this year to cut interest rates that had been hiked in efforts to tame inflation, which had soared following the end of Covid lockdowns and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Sweden’s central bank slashed borrowing costs by 0.5 basis points Thursday — its fourth this year and biggest reduction in a decade — while Norway made no change.

The Fed is later expected to trim by 25 basis points in a decision unlikely to have been influenced by Donald Trump’s return to power, according to analysts.

The BoE update follows a maiden budget last week from Britain’s new Labour government that featured tax rises and increased borrowing.

In August, the BoE reduced it key rate for the first time since early 2020, from a 16-year high of 5.25 percent as UK inflation returned to normal levels.

But it decided against a second reduction in a row in September. There was no October meeting.

The BoE hiked borrowing costs 14 times between late 2021 — when they stood at a record-low 0.1 percent — and the second half of last year.