Presidency has said that the nation’s economy, despite contraction, performed better than that of the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany and others in the second quarter of 2020.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) had said the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP declined by –6.10% in the second quarter of 2020, the lowest since the 2016/17 recession.
The development was mainly caused by some of the measures taken to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country.
Reacting to NBS’ figures, the presidency in a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina said that even with the negative growth Nigeria’s economy outperformed projections by most domestic and international analysts.
Adesina added that the figure was also relatively far better than many other countries recorded during the same quarter.
He also stated that the Fiscal and Monetary Policy initiatives being deployed by government in a phased process, will be a robust response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The aide argued;
The overall decline of -6.1% (for Q2 2020) and -2.18 per cent (for H1 2020) was better than the projected forecast of -7.24% as estimated by the National Bureau of Statistics.
Adesina expressed;
Furthermore, despite the observed contraction in economic activity during the quarter, it outperformed projections by most domestic and international analysts.
It also appears muted compared to the outcomes in several other countries, including large economies such as the US (-33%), UK (-20%), France (-14%), Germany (-10%), Italy (-12.4%), Canada (-12.0%), Israel (-29%), Japan (-8%), South Africa (projection -20% to -50%), with the notable exception of only China (+3%).
He stressed;
The government’s anticipation of the impending economic slowdown and the various initiatives introduced as early responses to cushion the economic and social effects of the pandemic, through the Economic Sustainability Programme (ESP), contributed immensely to dampening the severity of the pandemic on growth.
On the fiscal side, Adesina said a robust financing mechanism was designed to raise revenue to support humanitarian assistance, in addition to special intervention funds for the health sector.
