RECESSION EXIT: There’s still much to do MAN, LCCI, CPJ, others
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By Tunde Oso
Last Thursday, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced that Nigeria’s economy has exited recession in the fourth quarter of 2020 as Gross Domestic Product grew 0.11% in the three months through December from a year earlier, compared with a decline of 3.6% in the third quarter.
The surprising rebound means Nigeria’s economy recovered faster than expected and this has elicited some comments from economists and financial sector analysts.
Speaking to Sunday Vanguard, the Director-General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, Mr Segun Ajayi-Kadir said “even though I am yet to fully study the report and make the necessary comparison with the figures and scenario we have in the manufacturing sector, I will say the momentum should be sustained and improved upon to finally and convincingly get us out of recession.”
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Defying projections and leveraging opportunities presented by the coronavirus pandemic through technology and remote work, Nigeria’s resilient private sector helped the economy to exit recession in the fourth quarter with a growth of 0.11 per cent.
However, there are concerns about the country’s structural problems in the form of foreign exchange pressures, relatively lower oil prices and production, subdued global demand, spiralling consumer prices, repressed purchasing power, heightened unemployment levels, weak investor confidence, worsened insecurity and social tensions.
The country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 0.11 per cent in the three months through December from a year earlier, compared with a decline of 3.6 per cent in the third quarter, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) yesterday.