Nigeria’s GDP Grew By 0.11% in Q4 2020, Says Presidency
The Presidency yesterday painted a bright picture of the nation’s economy, saying Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 0.11 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2020 as it exits recession.
This is just as it also announced that its Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) will be revved up by the installation of five million solar energies this year.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, made this known while giving an update on ESP progress and reacting to the latest GDP figures for the last quarter of 2020.
According to him, Nigeria’s prompt exit from recession is a key indicator of the success of the ongoing Economic Sustainability Plan approved by the federal government, adding that Nigerians should expect more as the implementation of the plan is gathering even greater momentum.
He noted that right from the third quarter 2020, the economy was already on a rebound, adding that the latest fourth-quarter figures show that indeed, the recovery of the Nigerian economy is a steady one.
“Like we explained late last year after the release of the third-quarter figures, the Economic Sustainability Plan, which was a calculated intervention by the Buhari Presidency, is driving the Nigerian economy in the right direction-upwards, and Nigerians can expect more because the administration is unrelenting in its determination to pursue the steady recovery and growth of our economy ,” Akande noted.
Commenting on the fourth quarter GDP figures, he quoted a Presidency review on the latest GDP figures, saying that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 0.11 per cent in fourth quarter 2020 following two consecutive quarters of negative growth, showing an exit from the pandemic-induced recession with this positive quarterly growth in Q4 2020 contributed to overall GDP, which contracted by 1.92 per cent for the full year in 2020.
“This GDP report is important for a number of reasons. It is a reflection of the growing importance of the non-oil sector, as its contribution to GDP has increased from 92.68 per cent in fourth quarter 2019 to 94.13 per cent in the fourth quarter 2020. The non-oil sector performance was mainly driven by growth in Information and Communication, as the pandemic meant greater use of ICT services.
Growth in Agriculture, Manufacturing, Mining, Construction, and Real Estate also contributed to the improvement of the non-oil sector.
The Presidency review, however, noted that “in contrast, the oil sector fell by 19.76 per cent in Q4 2020 (6.36 per cent in Q4 2019) as average oil production declined to 1.5 million barrels per day (1.5mbpd). This can be attributed to Nigeria’s compliance with OPEC+ quotas.”
It was observed that the “report indicates that Nigeria’s response to the COVID-19 induced shocks, the Economic Sustainability plan and the timely revision of the Federal Government budget, were effective.”