Nigeria's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate slowed to 2.01 percent in the first three months of the year, impacted by the decline in oil growth rate, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) latest data revealed.
The West African country's economy grew 2.38 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, indicating a 0.38 percent higher rate than the first quarter of this year.
The pace of economic growth in Africa's biggest economy in the first quarter of this year was far below the 3 percent annual rate projected by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
According to the NBS data, the growth rate in the non-oil sector surpassed that of the oil sector, which was the mainstay of the economy.
The non-oil grew 2.47 percent in the period under review while the oil sector shrank by 2.40 percent.
However, the growth rate in the first quarter of 2019 was better than the figure returned for the corresponding period of last year.
In the first quarter of last year, the economy grew 1.89 percent.
“It is worth noting that general elections were held across the country during the first quarter of 2019 and this may have reflected in the strongest first-quarter performance observed since 2015," NBS said in its report.
“Aggregate GDP stood at 31.79 trillion naira in nominal terms. This aggregate was higher than in the first quarter of 2018 which recorded 28.44 trillion naira, representing a year-on-year nominal growth rate of 11.80 percent. The aggregate was, however, lower than in the preceding quarter of 35.23 trillion naira, by -9.75 percent.”
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) had, in its World Economic Outlook Update released in January, revised down the country’s Gross Domestic Product projection for this year to two per cent from the 2.3 percent projected in October 2018.
The pace of economic growth in Africa's biggest economy in the first quarter of this year was far below the 3 percent annual rate projected by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
According to the NBS data, the growth rate in the non-oil sector surpassed that of the oil sector, which was the mainstay of the economy.
The non-oil grew 2.47 percent in the period under review while the oil sector shrank by 2.40 percent.
However, the growth rate in the first quarter of 2019 was better than the figure returned for the corresponding period of last year.
In the first quarter of last year, the economy grew 1.89 percent.
“It is worth noting that general elections were held across the country during the first quarter of 2019 and this may have reflected in the strongest first-quarter performance observed since 2015," NBS said in its report.
“Aggregate GDP stood at 31.79 trillion naira in nominal terms. This aggregate was higher than in the first quarter of 2018 which recorded 28.44 trillion naira, representing a year-on-year nominal growth rate of 11.80 percent. The aggregate was, however, lower than in the preceding quarter of 35.23 trillion naira, by -9.75 percent.”
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) had, in its World Economic Outlook Update released in January, revised down the country’s Gross Domestic Product projection for this year to two per cent from the 2.3 percent projected in October 2018.
0 comments:
Post a Comment