NBS Projects 5.41% Annual Economic Growth From 2017

The National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, has projected that the Nigerian economy’s growth is expected to grow averaging 5.41 per cent yearly between 2017 and 2019.

The Bureau, in its latest Economic Outlook and Review 2016 Report released at the weekend hinged its projections on improving operational environment associated with current policy reforms by government to minimize wastages in public finance, fix decaying infrastructure and other fiscal and monetary initiatives, amongst other factors.

Reflecting on the headwinds in global commodity markets which sagged commodity prices, the decision by US Federal Reserves (FED) on key interest rates and other developments in Euro zone, Indian and Asian economies and the implications for the Nigerian economy, the NBS noted that these ugly developments had helped government to take hard decisions required to keep the economy on the path of sustainable growth.

Specifically, the Bureau recalled that the crisis in the commodity markets which started in the second half of 2014 impacted negatively on the Nigerian economy in 2015 as oil prices fell 66.8 per cent from $114/barrel recorded in June 2014, to $38.0 by December 2015; and worse still falling to as low as $32.6 as at Wednesday last week.

In addition, it also reported that beyond commodity markets, recent developments in the global economy, including return of Iran to the global oil market as well as turmoil in the Euro zone which remains a key importer of Nigerian exports, amongst others, created a trifecta of headwinds that the nation has to contend with.