**As Trade Balance Hits N719b
By Dipo Olowookere
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has disclosed that in the first quarter of 2017, a total of N5.3 trillion was made by Nigeria from foreign trade.
Of the amount, the total exports for the period under review stood at N3 trillion, while for imports stood at N2.3 trillion.
NBS noted that the N5.3 trillion total value of Nigeria’s merchandise trade represented a slight increase of 0.1 percent relative to the value of N5.286 trillion recorded in the preceding quarter.
It also said the marginal rise in exports, coupled with a slight decrease in imports brought the country’s trade balance to N719.4 billion during the period, up from N671.3 billion.
This, it explained, represents the second consecutive positive trade balance after 4 quarter of negative trade balance.
The value of exports increased by 0.9 percent compared to the previous quarter while imports in fell by 0.9 percent relative to the value recorded in the preceding quarter, the data showed.
On a sectoral/product basis, crude oil accounted for the largest share of total trade with 44.91 percent, followed by other oil products (23.37 percent), manufactured products (21.93 percent), raw materials (5.12 percent) and agricultural products (4.35 percent).
Adedapo Adesanya