Central Bank records $7 billion budget surplus
 16th SEP 2006

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has recorded a budget surplus of $6.99bn (about 88.8bn naira) for the first six months of this year, against a projected budget deficit of $7.4bn (94.5bn naira) for the same period. According to CBN, Nigeria's GDP grew by 7.5 percent compared with the 2.7 percent recorded during the first quarter of the year. The government has projected 10 percent overall growth for 2006, up from 6.2 percent in 2005. .

However, it is thought the disruption of oil production by militants could disrupt oil production's contribution to the GDP, a development that could undermine the targeted 10 percent growth. The report, however, noted a slight increase in oil production, including condensates and natural gas liquids, to 2.3 million barrels per day from 2.2 million in the first quarter. Apart from the surplus in the budget, the CBN also said foreign exchange sales to authorised dealers rose dramatically from $0.68bn in the preceding quarter to $2.93bn. The CBN also reported that foreign reserves stood at $36.48bn at the end of June after the government paid $4.6bn in debt to the Paris Club last April.

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