Nigeria boosts critical sectors with 2.83 bln USD
Xinhua, February 16, 2017 Adjust font size:
The Nigerian government Thursday said it disbursed 2.83 billion U.S. dollars to critical sectors of the economy between December 2016 and January 2017.
A spokesperson for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Isaac Okorafor, who disclosed this in a statement reaching Xinhua in Lagos, said the apex bank was determined to continually ease the foreign exchange pressure on critical sectors.
He said manufacturing, raw materials and agriculture topped the disbursements targeted at the employment and wealth generating sectors of the economy.
According to him, 609 million dollars and 228 million dollars were released for raw materials in December 2016 and January 2017, respectively.
He said manufacturing attracted 53 million dollars and 71 million dollars, respectively during the same period.
Okorafor said the foreign exchange utilization figure indicated that 1.8 billion dollars and 0.9 billion dollars, respectively were extended to critical sectors like manufacturing, agriculture, petroleum products and airlines, among others in December 2016 and January 2017.
He said the apex bank will continue to ease the foreign exchange pressure on critical sectors. Endit