By Tony Obiechina, ABUJA
A university lecturer, Prof Uche Uwaleke said on Monday that the 2018 Third Quarter GDP report which showed the economy grew by 1.8% compared to 1.5% in 2nd quarter is cheering news because it marked an end to the downward trend in GDP growth noticed since the first quarter.
Uwaleke, who is the the head of Economic Department, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, stated this in a statement issued in Abuja.
He said, “of note is the performance of the non oil sector where marginal improvements were recorded in manufacturing, especially cement production, Transportation and agriculture”.
According to him, “This outcome may have been helped by the implementation of the 2018 budget which kicked-in at the beginning of the third quarter, the relative stability in the exchange rate as well as the CBN’s interventions in the real sector”.
“Be that as it may, the growth is still weak and fragile particularly with respect to the sectors that have strong linkages to jobs. The performance of the financial services sector which is critical to the economy is disappointing”, he observed.
The economic expert however pointed out that, there is the need to vigorously implement the capital component of the 2018 budget, invest more in education and health sectors which are lagging behind, tackle the incessant farmers-herdsmen clashes weighing down on food production and enhance access to credit by target beneficiaries of the various CBN intervention schemes.
“Overall, improvement in the ease of doing business will go a long way in increasing the risk appetite of financial institutions in Nigeria which will positively rub off on GDP growth”, he added.
