‘Economy Would Have Been Much Stronger Without Insecurity’- Zainab React To 5.01% GDP Growth

Nigeria’s Minister of Finance Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, has said that the country’s 5.01 growth in the Gross Domestic Product recorded in the second quarter would have been much stronger if the bottlenecks disrupting the agricultural sector is addressed.

The minister said this on Monday while analyzing facts behind the GDP results released by the National Bureau of Statistics last week.

The country’s economy grew the highest in seven years since 2014, according to the minister.

Experts had said the results were a product of the base effect, but they also admit that government policies have helped.

Last year, the Nigerian economy contracted by 6.10 per cent on the account of the Covid-19 pandemic which crippled economic activities.

Real GDP grew 2.70 per cent in 2021 compared to -2.18 per cent for the first half of 2020, Zainab said.

Zainab said, “Growth in Q2 2021 would have been much stronger had it not been for Agriculture recording slower growth at 1.30% due to several bottlenecks currently negatively affecting the sector and due to the Industrial sector contracting by -1.23% largely due to the over 12% contraction in Crude Oil and Natural Gas Production.

“Overall, a total of 42 out of 46 economic activities expanded during the quarter compared to only 13 at the same time last year, while 37 activities performed better than they did last quarter (Q1).”

Insecurity in the Northern region where most of the country’s food comes from have disrupted the growth of the agric sector.

The minister noted, “These figures indicate that business and commercial activities are fully returning to pre-pandemic levels as restrictions to movement, business activities, as well as domestic and international travel have been relaxed.

“When these estimates are considered along with declining inflation rate, which slowed from 18.17 per cent at the end of Q1 to 17.75 per cent at the end of Q2 and as at July, stands at 17.38 per cent, it is clear that the economic recovery is gradually picking up steam.

“With favourable International economic conditions expected as economic activities and normalcy returns across major economies, and local conditions continue to improve to allow business activities, the Nigerian economy is expected to maintain a steady path to more inclusive growth.”