Latest data from the Central Bank of Nigeria has shown that the foreign exchange used for fuel imports from January to August in 2021 fell by 34.79 percent from $930.31m in the same period of 2020.

This development is coming despite the idleness of the refineries to produce fuel and forex scarcity in the country

According to CBN’s data on sectoral utilisation for transactions valid for forex, it revealed that $45.76 million was utilised in January for fuel imports; $64.67 million in February, and $142.31 million in March.

Also, forex for fuel import transactions fell to $77.96 million in April and $85.64 million in May but rose to $86.42 million in June.

Similarly, the country utilised $83.73 million in July and $103.70 million in August for petroleum products importation.

Breakdown Analysis

CBN, in its January economic report, said despite the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic, domestic economic activities improved in that month. This boosted the demand for the importation of both fuel and non-oil products.

It added that import of petroleum products increased significantly to $0.64bn in January 2021 against $0.13bn in December 2020.

“The development was as a result of increased importation of premium motor spirit and Automotive Gas Oil in the review period,” it added.

The data also showed that petrol topped the list of products imported into the country in Q2, accounting for 11.26 per cent of the total amount spent on imported products, up from 10.04 per cent in the previous quarter.

“The corporation has continued to diligently monitor the daily stock of PMS to achieve smooth distribution of petroleum products and zero fuel queue across the nation,” the NNPC said in its latest monthly report.