MAN, LCCI excited as economy exits recession

The Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Muda Yusuf said the exit of the economy from recession will improve the status of the country in the eyes of investors.

According to him, the news would improve investors’ confidence. “The exit from recession is also an indication that some of the policy actions of the government has impacted positively on the economy”, he said.

“We welcome the development as it has a positive signaling effect to the global investing committee. It would improve the perception of the economy especially by foreign investors. However, the GDP numbers and the exit from recession are not ends in itself, they are means to an end. What ultimately matters to business is the impact on the cost of doing business, productivity of the economic players, competitiveness of firms and the sustainability of investment”, Yusuf said.

“The level of the individual citizens, what matters is the welfare effect of the GDP numbers. The impact on food prices, cost of healthcare, transportation cost, power supply and the purchasing power. These are some of the ultimate outcomes that would determine whether or not the exit from recession will be celebrated.

A number of factors have been responsible for the progress made so far, improvement in oil price and oil output Improvement in liquidity in the forex market, commitment of Government to ease of doing business, reforms in forex policy”

Yusuf said in order to sustain the momentum of recovery and the current positive outlook, government needs to ensure there is reduction in multiplicity of exchange rates, alignment of procurement policy at all level of Government to support domestic investment, investment policy that would protect domestic investors, tax policy that is investment friendly, interest rate policy that is investment friendly as well as trade policy that will reduce cost of operations across sectors.

Also, Segun Osidipe, Director, Economics and Statistics, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) while x-raying the report said though the report signified fresh hope for the economy, the association’s internal indicators had shown that the manufacturing sector had been out of recession in the first quarter of the year.