The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), has decreased by -6.10 per cent (year on year), in the second quarter of 2020. This statement was obtained from the agency’s website, in Abuja.
The statement explained that both domestic and international economic activities had declined, due to nationwide shutdowns to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.
The domestic efforts ranges from initial restrictions of human and vehicular movement, which were implemented in a few states, to a nationwide curfew. Domestic and international travel was banned, schools and markets were closed, and businesses where gravely affected. This shutdown affected local and international trade, which aided in boosting the country’s economy.
According to the NBS statement, when compared with Q2 2019, which recorded a growth of 2.12 per cent, the Q2 2020 growth rate indicates a drop of –8.22 percentage points, and a fall of –7.97 percentage points when compared to the first quarter of 2020 (1.87 per cent).
Read Also:
Dr. Yemi Kale, Statistician General, said that the Quarterly National Accounts (QNA), had adopted the same concepts, definitions and structure as Annual National Accounts (ANA).
A member of the Economic Advisory Council (ECA), Mr. Bismarck Rewane, warned that the decline should serve as a wake-up call to change our approach in the country. During a television interview on Channels Television, Rewane said: “The truth is that the economy had its pre-existing conditions in Q1 (first quarter) and the lag between the slow down and the contraction was underestimated by all analysts,” he said. He pointed out that the Federal Government’s stimulus plan for the economy was inadequate to cover for the shortfall recorded by the NBS.”
“We have a N2.5trillion equipment to fight a N12trillion contraction,”
“So the limitations and inadequacies and inappropriateness of the tools, compared to the problem we have is stacked.
“So we are saying that the move from a slowdown into a contraction was more than we expected. The tools that we have at our disposal are inadequate. The stimulus that is required to take us out of this equation is going to be much more than we expected. And we are going to have to take some measures.”
