Nigeria’s Fuel Import Rises to N996 Billion in Six Months

SEATTLE (Oil Monster): Nigeria spent N995.835 billion on the importation of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, also known as petrol, in the first half of 2018, according to latest data released by National Bureau of Statistics, NBS.

The NBS, in its Foreign Trade Statistics for the second quarter of 2018, noted that N277.71 billion was spent on the import of the commodity, also called fuel, in the second quarter of 2018, while N718.125 billion was expended on PMS import in the first quarter of 2018.

Data obtained from the report revealed that Nigeria’s fuel import bill in the first half of 2018 rose by 36.2 per cent compared with N730.925 billion spent on the importation of the commodity in the second half of 2017.

However, the amount spent on fuel import in the first six months of 2018, was 26.3 per cent lower compared to fuel import bill of N1.351 trillion recorded in the first half of 2017.

In addition, the report noted that total mineral oil import, comprising fuel and lubricants stood at N1.237 trillion in the period under review, with N426.939 billion and N845.118 billion recorded in the first and second quarters respectively.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the NBS report stated that the total value of imports into Nigeria in the second quarter stood at N2.106 trillion, of which N426.9 billion imports were mineral fuel, representing 20.26 per cent of the total import.

It added that machinery and transport equipment import stood at N600.6 billion, representing 28.5 per cent of total import in the second quarter, while Chemical and Related Products imports accounted for 7.7 per cent of total imports.

The report noted that the total value of Nigeria’s merchandise trade was N6.569 trillion in the second quarter of 2018, which was a -8.89 p er cent contraction from N7.211 trillion recorded in the first quarter of 2018 and a 14.56 per cent growth from N5.73 trillion recorded in the second quarter of 2017.

Courtesy: www.vanguardngr.com