This document provides a brief update on several aspects of the Nigerian economy. The first article discusses Capital Importation – Recent data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that the value of capital imported to Nigeria declined by 54.34 percent; from $1.56 billion 2015 Q4 to $710.97 million in 2016 Q1. This is the lowest value since the data was first released in 2007. Huge declines in Portfolio Investment (71.54%) and other Investment (44.84%) were the major drivers of the trend within the period. The next article under the next heading Crude Oil – the OPEC weekly basket price increase is discussed which went marginally from $41.08 per barrel on April 29, 2016 to $41.13 per barrel on May 6, 2016. The stability of the prices amidst persistent downward pressures was likely driven by a massive fire in Canadian oil sand field region and escalating political tension in Libya which reduced global production. In the next article the Purchasing Managers’ Index is discussed – the PMI which measures business performance declined in both the Manufacturing (by 2.2 %) and Non Manufacturing (by 1.1 %) sectors. It also under performed (below 50% ) for the fourth consecutive month. The latest in the Nigerian Stock Market is discussed next – the All Share Index (ASI) and Market Capitalization both appreciated by 2.55% from April 29, 2016 to May 6, 2016. Specifically, ASI increased to 25,701.60 points from 25,062.41 points and Market Capitalization also increased to N8.84 trillion from N8.62 trillion. This is the highest week-on-week increase since March 24, 2016 (25,899.91 points). Similarly, all other indices closed higher, with the exception of NSE Insurance Index which declined by 0.78 percent.
