This document provides a brief update on several aspects of the Nigerian economy. The first article is about Foreign Trade – Recent data received from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which shows that Nigeria’s Foreign Trade declined by 37.99% (Year-on Year) to N2.72 trillion in 2016 Q1. Merchandise exports, specifically declined by 52.36 % to N1.27 trillion, while merchandise imports declined by 15.84% to N1.45 trillion. This translates to a negative balance of trade (-N184.09 billion) – the first in seven years. The next article is about the Purchasing Managers Index – PMI, which measures business performance, shows an improvement in manufacturing sector activities (by 2.1 index points) while performance in the non-manufacturing sector remained unchanged in May, relative to the preceding month. The slight improvement in Manufacturing PMI can be attributed to the increase in FOREX allocations to manufacturers by the CBN in April. The following article on the Crude Oil Price – reports that it continued to increase in the period under review, reaching its 2016 peak at $50.30 on June 2, 2016. Specifically, the OPEC weekly basket price increased by 1.43% from $44.65 on May 27, 2016 to $45.29 on June 3, 2016. Brent was sold for $49.96 on June 3, 2016. The present rise in the crude oil price can be attributed to oil production shocks in several oil-exporting countries, and the general expectation of a further cut in output following the OPEC meeting in Vienna on June 2, 2016. The last article discussed the Stock Market – All-Share Index (ASI) and Market Capitalization both depreciated (week-on-week) by 4.4 % from May 27, 2016 to June 3, 2016. ASI depreciated from 28,902.25 points to 27,634.42 points, while Market Capitalization decreased from N9.93 trillion to close the week at N9.49 trillion.
