By Munachimso Obienyi
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said Nigeria received about $10.11 billion as diaspora remittances between January and June 2022, representing a 9.6 per cent increase compared to $9.23 billion received in the corresponding period of 2021.
This was even as the apex bank revealed that in contrast to the second half of 2021, Nigeria’s diaspora remittance inflow increased marginally by 0.9 per cent from $10.02 billion.
According to data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s website, a sum of $23.3 million was recorded as remittance outflow from Nigeria, indicating a net inflow of $10.09 billion in H1 2022 as against a net value of $9.99 billion recorded in H2 2021 and $9.2 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2021.
Nigeria’s remittance inflow rose to its highest level since the second half of 2019, as the CBN Naira4dollar policy continues to support remittance inflows into the Nigerian economy.
The apex bank had in March 2021 introduced the Naira 4 Dollar Scheme for diaspora remittances. This scheme offers recipients of diaspora remittances N5 for every $1 received through the CBN IMROs.
The scheme, which was originally meant to last for two months, was later extended indefinitely. According to the apex bank, the extension of the scheme was aimed at sustaining the foreign exchange market liquidity in Africa’s biggest economy, which has been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and drop in oil revenue.
Reacting to the development, analysts said that the numbers are beginning to shore up from the dip recorded in 2020 as a result of the pandemic.
They also noted that this is a major boost for the Nigerian economy, which is in dire need of a foreign exchange, considering the sustained liquidity crunch and depreciation of the local currency.
