Nigeria’s Total Import Bill Doubles 107%

The total import bill in the Nigerian economy grew by 107%, doubling its figures from 2020. In 2021 import bill was valued at  $8.92 billion compared to its previous figure in 2020 $4.29 billion.

 Chief Consultant and Economist of B. Adedipe Associates Limited disclosed this during an event organized by Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, where he presented a  report titled “National economic outlook: Implications for businesses’

 Import bill is the total amount of imports made by a country. This includes both physical imports of goods and imports of services.

Adedipe stated that Monthly import bill of N3.66bn (or $8.92bn) in Q1-Q3 2021 more than doubled $4.29bn in 2020. According to him the Nigerian economy still remains an investment destination, but security concerns continues to hamper foreign direct investment.

He explained that the economy is looking positive with several top organizations predicting positive outlooks, National Bureau of Statistics projected 4.2 per cent, BAA projected 3.23 per cent economic growth for 2022.

“Inflation rate is expected to moderate, but still double-digit (removal of oil and electricity subsidies); lending rate will remain double-digit. Continuing pressure (relentless imports and shrinking capacity to pay foreign bills) will likely force the CBN to further devalue the naira,” .

He added that there would be “improvement in infrastructure that will impact positively the cost of doing business and improve government revenue in the near term; and intensified digitalisation and ascendancy of the digital economy”.