Recession Archives - Naija Premium Gist

Nigeria’s exit from recession a key indicator of ESP’s performance – Presidency

February 22, 2021 No Comments

The presidency said on Sunday night Nigeria’s prompt exit from recession was a key indicator of the success of the Federal Government’s Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP).

The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Vice President, Mr. Laolu Akande, who disclosed this in a statement, said Nigerians should expect more as the implementation of the ESP gathered momentum.

Akande also provided an update on ESP progress and the latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures for the last quarter of 2020.

He said President Muhammadu Buhari approved the ESP in June 2020 and directed Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to lead the implementation of the plan.

He said: “The plan is aimed, among others, at preventing a deep recession and putting cash in the hands of Nigerians after the economic fallouts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Right from the 2020 third quarter, the economy was already on a rebound. The latest fourth-quarter figures show that indeed, the recovery of the Nigerian economy is a steady one.

Like we explained late last year after the release of the third-quarter figures, the ESP, which was a calculated intervention by the Federal Government, is driving the Nigerian economy in the right direction – upwards.

“Nigerians can expect more because the administration is unrelenting in its determination to pursue the steady recovery and growth of our economy.”

The presidential spokesperson said the ESP was entering into an even more potent phase with the revving up of plans to install five million solar installations across the country.

He said the social mass housing plan would result in hundreds of thousands of affordable houses for ordinary Nigerians.

According to him, both projects will yield several hundreds of jobs besides giving the national economy a significant spur like never before.

Politics

RECESSION: Only an intellectually competent leader can transform Nigeria – Moghalu

November 23, 2020 No Comments

A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Kingsley Moghalu, said on Monday only an intellectual and competent leader can truly transform Nigeria as the country slid into its second recession in five years.

Moghalu, who was reacting to the confirmation that Nigeria has now entered its worst recession in 33 years, said the report was not surprising, adding that the government’s excuse that the recession was occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic was untenable.

He said on his Twitter handle that “unless the problem of leadership selection and constitution structure is addressed, Nigeria’s economy cannot create wealth for its citizens except for those with political connections.”

Moghalu urged the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to fix the economy so that Nigeria can quickly come out of the recession.

He wrote: “No surprise Nigeria is entering yet another recession. Until Nigeria is led by an intellectually competent leader, with visionary politics backed by sound economic thinking and knowledge, economic transformation will remain a dream. It’s for citizens to do the needful.

“COVID-19 contributed to our current recession, but is no excuse. Nigeria’s economy has been weak for several years. Was the 2016 recession caused by COVID-19 too? The deeper problems of economic management led to our weak response to the COVID-19 crisis.

“South Africa’s budgetary fiscal stimulus response to the crisis was $26 billion. Ours was a budgetary provision of N500 billion ($1.3 billion) and a @cenbank intervention of N1 trillion ($3 billion). And only a fraction of our desperately poor households received the 20K disbursements from the money budgeted.

“Unless we address the problem of our constitutional structure and the leadership selection problem in our politics, Nigeria’s economy simply can’t create prosperity for its citizens, only for a very few with the right political connections for rent-seeking.

“The few real entrepreneurs who make it do so in spite of, not because of the government.”

Politics

Nigeria may enter second recession in four years -Buhari

October 8, 2020 No Comments

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), says Nigeria’s economy may slip back into recession.

Buhari poke at the presentation of the 2021 budget estimates to the Joint Session of the National Assembly on Thursday in Abuja.

The president explained that Nigeria’s economy is being battered by the global economic fallout from COVID-19, adding that a drop in crude oil prices deprives the country of key revenues.

He presented a budget of N13.1 trillion, which represents over 20 per cent increase from last year’s spending plan.

The budget, he said, comes with a deficit of N4.8 trillion that will be financed mainly by borrowing.

Buhari noted that global crude prices tumbled early in the year, falling below $20 per barrel in April.

He said, “The 2021 Budget was prepared amidst a challenging global and domestic environment due to the persistent headwinds from the Coronavirus Pandemic. The resulting global economic recession, low oil prices and heightened global economic uncertainty have had important implications for our economy.

The Nigerian economy is currently facing serious challenges, with the macroeconomic environment being significantly disrupted by the Coronavirus Pandemic. Real Gross Domestic Product growth declined by 6.1 percent in the second quarter of 2020.

“This ended the 3-year trend of positive, but modest, real GDP growth recorded since the second quarter of 2017. I am glad to note that, through our collective efforts, our economy performed relatively better than that of many other developed and emerging economies.

GDP growth is projected to be negative in the third quarter of this year. As such, our economy may lapse into the second recession in four years, with significant adverse consequences.

“However, we are working assiduously to ensure a rapid recovery in 2021. We remain committed to implementing programmes to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty over the next 10 years.”