The National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, says Nigerian economy saw a continuous growth in total Capital Importation into Nigeria in the first quarter of 2018, the fourth consecutive quarterly increase since Q2 2017.
It said the total value of capital imported in the quarter stood at $6,303.63 million, which is a year on year increase of 594.03% and a 17.11% growth over the figure reported in the previous quarter.
This increase in capital inflow in Q1, 2018 was driven mainly by Portfolio Investment, which grew from $3,477.53 million in the previous quarter to $4,565.09 million, accounting for 72.42% of the total Capital Importation during the quarter.
The bureau revealed this in its quarterly report on Nigerian Capital Importation inflow for Q1 2018 released on Friday.
It noted that the fourth consecutive quarterly increase since Q2 2017 witnessed in Q1 2018, was a year on year increase of 594.03% and a 17.11% growth over the figure reported in the previous quarter.
This increase in capital inflow in Q1, 2018, according to the report was driven mainly by Portfolio investment, which grew from $3,477.53 million in the previous quarter to $4,565.09 million, accounting for 72.42% of the total Capital Importation during the quarter.
The study, which divided the capital importation into three main investment types: Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Portfolio Investment and Other Investments, each comprising various sub-categories, said since 2017 Q2, Portfolio Investment has been expanding faster than the other two categories, remaining the largest component of capital imported in Q1, 2018 at 35% of total capital imported.
However, Foreign Direct Investment and Other Investment accounted for 3.91% and 23.67% of total Capital Importation into Nigeria in the quarter under review.
In the first quarter, Foreign Direct Investment stood at $246.62 million, falling by 34.83% from the figure reported in the previous quarter, and growing by 16.67% on a year-on-year basis.
Meanwhile, Foreign Direct Investment in Nigeria was still weak when compared to Portfolio Investment and Other Investment, representing only 3.9% of total capital imported.
Equity Investment, a sub-category under FDI contributed ($246.61 million) or 99.9% of FDI during the quarter, while Other Capital under FDI contributed less than 0.001%.
Also in the quarter, Portfolio Investment remained the largest component of total capital inflow into Nigeria in the first quarter of 2018.
The total value of Portfolio Investment was $4,565.1 million, which is a 1,355.66% growth compared to Q1, 2017 and a 31.27% growth compared to the figure reported in Q4, 2017.
The strong growth of Portfolio Investment was mainly due to the increase in Money Market Instruments, which recorded a figure of $3,527.60 million, accounting for 77.27% of total Portfolio Investments in the first quarter.
