The plan was specifically designed to take the country out of the recession and in the long term, continue to grow the economy while planning of the 2017 was also based on the ERGP to accelerate speedy recovery and development of infrastructure.
Browsing: International Monetary Fund
He explained that government is funding agriculture, solid minerals and infrastructure development to return growth, invest in the people and build competitiveness of the economy. “We are determined by the end of the (economic) plan to move from the negative growth that we experienced in 2016 to a growth rate of seven per cent by 2020,” he said.
“Overall, the Nigerian economy performed better than expected even though we are still in the early stages of recovery. It is indeed noteworthy that overall 2016 growth was higher with a contraction at -1.5% than the -1.8% predicted by the IMF.”
Dutse said the decline was also attributed to the Force Majeure declared at both the Bonny and Forcados crude oil exporting terminals as well as the shut-in of crude oil production and shut-down of pipelines for routine repairs and maintenance in the region.
The new IMF report placed Nigeria ahead of South Africa and Egypt which are second and third respectively.
The NBS had predicted a growth of 3.8 per cent in 2016 but low oil prices had thwarted the prediction with a contraction of 2.1 per cent in the second quarter.
The reduced repayments have exacerbated the foreign currency liquidity stress of the banks, as some of these loans were granted in foreign currency.
According to him, “we are expecting that at the end of the year, our generation capacity will be over 6,000 megawatts by the end of 2016; 10,000 megawatts in 2019 and 30,000 megawatts in 2030.”
Although Nigeria is unlikely to be unseated as Africa’s largest economy in the long run, “the momentum that took it there in the first place is now long gone.”
24 January 2015, Lagos – Against the backdrop of the economic crisis plaguing Nigeria amid falling global oil prices, the Federal…
