Nigeria’s current account has continued in its negative trajectory in the first quarter of the year to stand at a deficit of $1.75 billion, characterized by a huge trade deficit, a decline in foreign direct investments as well as in remittances.

Balance of Payment (BOP) is a statement that records all the monetary transactions made between residents of a country and the rest of the world during any given period, Nairametrics reports.

It is ideal in measuring whether a country has a surplus or deficit of funds.

Nigeria has recorded a current account BoP deficit continuously for 9 consecutive quarters, since Q1 2019, summing up to a deficit of $33.35 billion in a little over two years. This could be largely attributed to a massive gap in Nigeria’s trade balance.

However, this represents the lowest deficit recorded since Q1 2019, which signifies that our net current account could enter into positive territories soon.

Net current account declined from a deficit of $5.26 billion recorded in Q4 2020 to a deficit of $1.75 billion in Q1 2021.

Breakdown

Goods export decreased by 8.6% (QoQ) from $8.44 billion recorded in Q4 2020 to $7.71 billion in Q1 2021.

Net financial account surged to $7.87 billion in Q1 2021, from a deficit of $3.37 billion recorded in the previous quarter.

Net errors and omissions stood at -$6.14 billion in Q1 2021 from $8.64 billion recorded in the prior period.

Foreign receipt from services stood at $1.19 billion in the review period while Nigeria’s services payment stood at $4.09 billion, indicating a current account service deficit of $2.9 billion.