The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reported that Nigeria’s net foreign exchange (FX) inflow increased to $20.33 billion in the first quarter of 2026, representing a 33.8 per cent increase compared with the $15.19 billion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The apex bank, in its just released ‘Q1 2026 Quarterly Economic Report, attributed the surge in the FX inflow primarily to higher inflows from autonomous sources.
According to the report, aggregate forex inflow rose by 13.26 per cent to $31.34 billion in Q1 2026 from $27.67 billion in the preceding quarter while FX outflow declined by 11.78 per cent to $11.01 billion from $12.48 billion recorded in Q4 2025.
A further analysis of the FX inflow data indicated that FX inflow through the CBN fell slightly by 3.77 per cent to $10.20 billion from $10.60 billion, while inflow through autonomous sources increased by 23.90 per cent to $21.15 billion from $17.07 billion.
The apex bank further disclosed that FX outflow through the bank rose by 4.08 per cent to $7.40 billion from $7.11 billion in the previous quarter, while outflow through autonomous sources declined by 32.77 per cent to $3.61 billion from $5.37 billion.
The figures implied that autonomous sources recorded a net FX inflow of $17.53 billion in Q1 2026, compared with $11.71 billion in Q4 2025 compared to the apex bank’s net FX inflow of $2.80 billion during the quarter, lower than the $3.48 billion recorded in the preceding quarter.