Recession exit still on papers as Nigerian employers’ yet to find bearing—NECA
More than six months after the Nigerian economy was pronounced as having exited recession, the leadership of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has picked holes on the exit claims.
This was made public Mr. Larry Ettah, the immediate past president of the Association during the 61st Annual General Meeting of NECA in Lagos, saying “Though economic data and statistics may point to the fact that our economy is out of the woods of recession, and we are beginning to inch up on the growth trajectory, the fact and reality, however, of most businesses and the welfare of the generality of Nigerians seems to suggest that the “green shoots” are far from sprouting.”
Taking facts from his review of the economy in 2017, he said the GDP growth was 0.83% as against IMF projection of 0.8%, while the Federal Government’s ERGP projection stood at 2.19% in 2017.
Also relying on data from the National Bureau for Statistics’ (NBS) Report, Ettah argued that the economy was driven by growth in crop production, crude oil production and natural gas; metal ore, construction, transportation and storage, trade, electricity and gas production, saying that in reality, it was more of a reflection of increased oil production due to security improvements in the country’s Niger Delta region, higher global oil prices and new investments in the agricultural sector.
“Nevertheless, the token growth in 2017 serves as a good foundation for future growth if the fundamentals and policy that facilitated the 2017 growth are kept and continuously improved upon, explained that inflation rate, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), dropped to 15.37 per cent in December 2017 from 15.90 per cent recorded in November of the same year, noting that a two-digit interest rate certainly is not good for the economy as it will continuously pose a challenge to the CBN’s commitment to reduce the cost of borrowing and keep it within a one-digit band,” Ettah submitted.
