Positive GDP: Don advises FG

A university lecturer, Dr Aminu Usman, has advised the Federal Government to ensure policy consistency in programmes implementation to sustain positive Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Nigeria’s GDP grew by 1.40 per cent year-on-year in real terms in the third quarter, according to a recent report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Usman, who is Head of the Department of Economics at the Kaduna State University, gave the advice in an interview in Abuja.

He said that sustainability of growth projections would depend on consistency in policy implementation and sustenance of peace in the resource-rich Niger Delta.

The don, however, described Nigeria’s GDP figures as good news, saying: “ that means the country is sustaining the growth out of recession.

“It’s not a surprise because there are strong indications that the economy is growing, albeit slowly quite expectedly for an economy coming out of recession.

“With improved oil prices and stability in the Nigerian Delta region, there were improvements in oil sector activities which also impacts on the nation’s cash flow and capital releases.

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“You will recall also that it was within the third quarter that the implementation of the 2017 budget began. So, the figures are quite reasonable.’’

The NBS had stated that the figures showed the second consecutive positive growth since the emergence of the economy from recession in the second quarter.

The agency stated that the growth was 3.74 per cent points higher than the rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2016, which was -2.34 per cent.

The NBS stated that it was also higher by 0.68 per cent points from the rate recorded in the preceding quarter, which was revised to 0.72 per cent from 0.55 per cent.