The National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday released the capital importation report, stating that investment inflows into the country rose by 95.02 per cent from $884.1m in the first quarter of this year to $1.79bn in the second quarter.

The bureau in the report which was made available to our correspondent in Abuja attributed the main driver of the quarterly growth in capital importation in the second quarter to 146.7 per cent increase in Portfolio Investments.

This, it added, was followed by Other Investments, which grew by 95.02 per cent, and then Foreign Direct Investment, which increased by 29.8 per cent over the previous quarter.

It stated, “The total value of capital imported into Nigeria in the second quarter of 2017 was estimated to be $1.792bn. This figure was $884.1m more than the figure recorded in Q1 2017, a growth of 95.02 per cent.

“Year on year, this was an increase of 43.6 per cent from the $1.04bn recorded in Q2 of 2016. A month on month analysis of capital importation in the second quarter shows that the month of May recorded the highest of amount of capital importation ($616.5m), followed by June with $612.6m and May with $563.3m.

“The main driver of the quarterly growth in capital importation in the second quarter was Portfolio Investments, which increased by 145.7 per cent, followed by Other Investments, which grew by 95.02 per cent, and then Foreign Direct Investment, which increased by 29.8 per cent over the previous quarter.”

Portfolio Investment, according to the report was the largest component of imported capital in the second quarter of 2017, and accounted for $770.5m, or 43 per cent respectively of the total.

This was closely followed by Other Investments, which accounted for $747.5m, or 41.7 per cent, and then FDI, which accounted for $274.4 or 15.3 per cent during the quarter.

The NBS report said that the state to import the most capital into Nigeria in the second quarter of 2017 was Lagos, as in all previous quarters.

It added, “Lagos is the commercial and financial capital of Nigeria, and home to Nigeria’s Stock Exchange where shares are traded. As such, it accounts for most of the capital imported into the country.

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