(Ecofin Agency) - Nigeria spent N595.5 billion on the importation of fuel in the first six months of 2016, an increase of N34.3 billion compared to the amount spent in the last six months of 2015, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

According to the Agency, the country spent N276.226 billion on petrol import in Q1 of 2016 and N319.28 billion in Q2 of this year.

The report showed that the amount spent on fuel importation reduced by 6.1%, compared with the N561.2 billion spent in H2 of 2015. It also revealed that the amount expended on fuel import in H1 of 2016 was 12.18% lower at N82.63 billion than the N678.13 billion spent on fuel imports in H1 of 2015.

Nigeria spent N1.24 trillion on the importation of fuel in 2015 and for H1 of 2016, the country recorded a total imports of N3.57 trillion, signifying that fuel imports accounted for 16.7% of Nigeria’s total import in the first six months of this year.

However, data gathered from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), showed that the oil sector accounted for 19% of the overall foreign exchange expenses of $5.85 billion by the bank in Q1 of 2016 while in Q2, the oil sector accounted for 23.3% of the $6.09 billion foreign exchange disbursed by CBN.

The difficulty in gaining access to foreign exchange and also the falling value of the naira had made imported fuel costly.

The inability of the country to fix the refineries also worsened the situation further, making the country depend solely on importation and other arrangements signed by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), for about 95% of the country’s fuel consumption, Sweetcrudes reports.

Anita Fatunji