Exit from recession results of ESP, fiscal monetary policies of Buhari govt – Finance Minister
By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
For Finance Minister, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, Nigeria’s early exit from the economic recession it entered in last quarter of 2020 is as a result of the fiscal policies, the monetary policies and the Economic Sustainability Plan that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has been implementing.
She also said the country’s exit from recession is a key indicator that it’s poised for stable and consistent growth the Federal Government has envisaged earlier.
The Minister who briefed State House Correspondents Wednesday after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at Presidential Villa Abuja also said its an indication that the diversification efforts the present administration has been pushing is actually also posting results.
She also said that government has been implementing vigorously, the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) approved by Council last June with Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo at the helms of affairs leading the implementation of the plan.
Ahmed who was at the briefing room alongside her counterparts including Ministers of Information and Culture, Lai Mohamed and FCT, Mohammed Bello also said:
“Nigeria’s economy unexpectedly came out of a recession in the fourth quarter as growth in agriculture and telecommunications offset a sharp drop in oil production.
“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 Abuja-based National Bureau of Statistics said on its website last week Thursday.
According to her: “The Federal Executive Council, we had the opportunity to brief Council on the National Bureau of Statistics recently published fourth quarter GDP report estimates, which measure the economic growth of our country.
“Nigeria’s GDP in the fourth quarter of 2020 grew by 0.11% and in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2020. This follows, if you recall, two consecutive negative growth in the third quarter and the second quarter of 2020, which saw us as a country going into recession. So as a result of this fourth quarter positive growth, the total growth for the year 2020 is -1.92%.
“Recall that we had ourselves reported, that we will be going into a negative growth at the end of 2020 at -4% and some of the international development institutions reported much higher negative growth for Nigeria. So at -1.92%, it is a very good performance.
“But also, the good story for us is that, with this positive growth in the fourth quarter it means Nigeria has exited recession. This is one of the shortest lived recessions we have witnessed in the country, despite the impact of the Covid-19, but I must say that the result of this exit is as a result of the fiscal policies, the monetary policies and the Economic Sustainability Plan that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has been implementing.
“So out of the 46 sectors of the economy, 17 recorded positive growth and this is higher than the number of sectors that had recorded positive growth in the third quarter. In real terms, the growth between the third quarter and the fourth quarter is a positive growth of 3.73%, a movement within one quarter we have never witnessed in this country, so we’re growing from one quarter to another by 3.73%.
“That also the movement from the second quarter to the third quarter also witnessed a growth of 2.48% is an indication that the policies that are being implemented are the right ones and the trajectory is is a positive one and that Nigeria is well on its way of restoring a consistent and stable growth, a growth that we hope to grow to be a strong growth from the fragile growth that we now have at 0.11%.
“So this is a good performance, but on a broad sectoral basis, the Agricultural Sector posted a strong growth of 3.42% during the last quarter and when you compare to the previous quarter, it’s a much better performance.
“Similarly, Services Sector grew. Other sectors that witnessed slow down in growth include Industry, crude, petroleum and natural gas sectors. The decline in oil production and prices in 2020, of course reflective of global drop in demand, and it is one of the major reasons why our country went into recession.
“Another positive story for us is that the non-oil sector grew by 1.69%. This is an indication that the diversification efforts that the economy has been pushing is actually also posting results; while the oil sector is declining, the non-oil sector is is growing.
“We’ve seen overall economic activities reported strongly in the quarry and minerals sector, in the ICT and Telecommunications sector, in the cement industry, in broadcasting, in crop production as well as in agriculture.
“On the other hand, there are some sectors that are still witnessing negative and that’s why I said the growth is still fragile. These sectors include oil refining, air transport, coal mining, crude petroleum production, as well as accommodation and food services.
