Economy Slowly Merging From Recession ―Presidency

THE Presidency on Tuesday said following the release by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of the Quarter 1 Gross Domestic Products (GDP) 2017 figures, there were indications that the country’s economy was slowly moving out of recession.

According to a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on media and publicity, Laolu Akande, in Abuja, growth has been recorded in agricultural and manufacturing.

He said: “In an encouraging indication of a steady, even if slow progressive pace, the Nigerian economy is emerging out of recession.

“For instance, growth has continued in agriculture and a notable positive turnaround has now been recorded in manufacturing and non-oil sectors, while a slowdown in negative growth rates is noticed in several more sector.

He quoted a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters, Dr. Adeyemi Dipeolu, which showed that the economy shrank by 0.52% in the first quarter of 2017.

The statement added: “Although the economy remains in recession this is the strongest performance in five quarters and shows a significant turnaround from the low of -2.34% reached in the third quarter of 2016 (Q3 2016).

“This is nearly two percentage point improvement and also reflects the fact that the number of sub-sectors that experienced negative growth has almost halved falling from 29 sub-sectors for the whole of 2016 to 16 sub-sectors in Q1 2017.

“Agricultural growth remained in positive territory albeit growing at a slower rate of about 3.4%, no doubt due to seasonal factors.”

“Growth in manufacturing, on the other hand, returned to positive territory after five quarters of negative growth.  It grew by 1.36% in Q1 2017 after falling to a nadir of -7.0% in Q1 2016.”

“The solid mineral sector continued to justify the priority given to it by the Federal Government with high double-digit growth for metal ores and quarrying at 40.79% and 52.54% respectively.”

“Growth in the oil sector remained negative at -11.64% although there was an over six percentage point improvement in its fortunes from the previous quarter.”

“More significantly, the non-oil sector which accounts for about 90% of GDP returned to positive growth although at a marginal level of 0.72% in Q1 2017.  This is the first positive growth in the non-oil sector since the last quarter of 2015.”

“Headline inflation fell for the third month in a row to 17.24%, with core inflation also declining quite rapidly.”