Nigeria-UK trade balance suffers 19.3% deficit in 2016, lowest in 7 years

The last may not have been heard of the negative impact of the low crude oil output on Nigeria’s economy growth, as the country recorded the lowest trade deficit in seven years with its major trading partners in Europe, particularly the United Kingdom (UK).

A breakdown indicated that Nigeria’s trade with Europe as at 2016 also resulted in a negative balance of trade of N1.05 tillion, as against a trade surplus of N1.31tn in 2015.

This is reflected on the review of balance of trade between 2009 till 2026 by the National Bureau of Statistics, which showed that Britain has had more commodity market items coming into Nigeria in 2016 than was the case in the past years.

It said the former colonial masters, enjoyed the record of the ratio of 3:1 in 2016, compared with the figure of 3:2 since 2009 till 2015.

It would be recalled that the President of the Nigerian Association of Chamber, Commerce and Industry, Mr. Silas Odeh, had recently stated that there is nothing on the ground showing that Nigeria’s commodity market is programmed to go beyond oil.

He said the country would continue to have trade imbalance in favour of all its trading partners, especially the developed economies until a policy reversal is made.

Read also: Economy: Nigeria can overtake Germany, UK by 2050, PwC projects

“It is no longer fashionable for countries to project a single commodity in the international market arena, meaning that policymakers must work towards encouraging sectors to compete favourably with oil.

“If there is going to be actual growth in the Nigerian economy, more should he done to embrace other commodities”, he told a conference on ‘How to Promote Trade Among Developing Economies’, organized recently by the Lagos branch of the chamber.

However, the NBS data stated that in 2013 the balance of trade between both countries shrank to N362.87bn; grew to N535.63bn in 2014 and further reduced to N131.09bn in 2015.

Despite the shortfall in export by Nigeria to the European country in the year under review, the UK remained one of Nigeria’s top 10 export destinations.

Other indexes showed that trade relationship between Nigeria and a number of European countries sufferd more imbalance in the past two years, with the recession year, 2016 recording the worst.

But the Minister for Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelemah, speaking through his Special Assistant on Trade, Mr. Silas Usueni, said that an answer to any trade imbalance is being addressed with the renewed efforts aimed at promoting, not only raw materials, but finished products from agro sector.

 

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