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Non-oil export revenue drops by 34%

By on December 22, 2014

The total earnings from non-oil exports dropped by 34 per cent in just one month, the latest economic report released by the Central Bank of Nigeria has indicated.

It put the revenue from the non-oil exports in the month of July 2014, the last month so far assessed, at $867.12m.

The report obtained by our correspondent on Friday noted that the revenue fell by 34.8 per cent and 4.5 per cent below the levels in the preceding month and the corresponding month of 2013, respectively.

It also stated that the Federal Government had released a total of N234bn for 307 agricultural projects across the country.

The drop in the non-oil exports reflected, largely, the fall in the earnings from food products, manufacturing and industrial sectors.

The report stated, “A breakdown by sectors showed that proceeds from agriculture, manufacturing, industrial, food products, minerals and transport sub-sectors stood at $658.32m, $115.47, $71.61m, $11.82, $9.82m and $68m, respectively.

“The shares of agriculture, manufacturing, industrial, food products, minerals and transport sub-sectors in non-oil export proceeds were 75.92, 13.32, 8.26, 1.36, 1.13 and 0.01per cent, respectively.”

The report also revealed that agricultural credit to farmers in the month of July 2014 declined by 22.3 per cent when compared to the level in the preceding month.

Twenty Deposit Money Banks participated in disbursing the funds. UBA, Zenith Bank and First Bank of Nigeria are the first three banks with the highest disbursements.

The banks, according to the CBN, disbursed a total of N41.8bn, N38.1bn and N26.8bn for 35, 24 and 68 projects, respectively.

The apex bank said, “At the end of July 2014, the total amount released by the CBN under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme to the participating banks for disbursement stood at N234.3bn for 307 projects/promoters.”

It stated that a total of N1.144bn was guaranteed to 6,652 farmers under the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme in July 2014.

This represented a decrease of 22.3 per cent below the level in the preceding month, but 93.9 per cent above the level in the corresponding period of 2013.

The regulatory institution noted that an analysis of the loans guaranteed showed that the food crops subsector had the largest share of N760.2m (66.4per cent) guaranteed to 5,291 beneficiaries.

This was followed by the livestock subsector, N168m (14.7per cent) guaranteed to 578 beneficiaries; mixed crops, N86m (7.5per cent) guaranteed to 456 beneficiaries; and fisheries, N72.4m (6.3 per cent) guaranteed to 151 beneficiaries.

Other subsectors, according to the report, have N37.6m (3.3 per cent) guaranteed to 63 beneficiaries and cash crops have N20.2m (1.8 per cent) guaranteed to 113 beneficiaries.

The report said, “Analysis by state showed that 31 states (including the Federal Capital Territory) benefited from the scheme during the review month with the highest and lowest sums of N145.2m (12.7 per cent) and N1.9m (0.2 per cent) guaranteed to Delta and Bayelsa states, respectively.”

The bank said available data indicated that agricultural activities improved on account of widespread rainfall during the review month, adding that farmers in different parts of the country engaged in harvesting of various crops.

The CBN said, “In the northern part of the country, farming activities were dominated by weeding and harvesting of crops such as maize and vegetables. In the southern states, farmers were involved in the harvesting of maize and yam. In the livestock subsector, farmers restocked broilers and layers in anticipation of increased sales during Eid-el-Fitr festivity.”

Other DMBs used for the disbursement of the funds, according to the report, are Unity Bank, Union Bank, Sterling Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Access Bank, Fidelity Bank and Skye Bank.

Guarantee Trust Bank, First City Monument Bank, Ecobank, CitiBank, Diamond Bank, Keystone Bank, Mainstreet Bank, Wema Bank, Enterprise Bank and Heritage Bank are also involved.

 

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