From Adetutu Folasade-Koyi, Abuja
Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, gave cheery news to Nigerians, yesterday, when she said the economy was gradually picking up.
The minister added that government has fully disbursed the N500 billion budgeted for its Economic Sustainability Plan.
The minister, who disclosed these to newsmen, in company with the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said with the 5.01 per cent year-on-year GDP growth in the second quarter of 2021, the economy was gradually returning to pre-pandemic levels but warned that Nigerians may not begin to feel the positive impact of economic growth until it becomes higher than population growth.
She spoke against the backdrop of recently released figures by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Ahmed said: “The 2021 Q2 growth rate reflects much better economic performance compared to the same period last year, which recorded -6.10 per cent growth rate.
“Furthermore, it was also better than the previous quarter (Q1) growth rate of 0.51 per cent, on a year-on-year basis. Year-to-date, real GDP grew 2.70 per cent in 2021 compared to -2.18 per cent for the first half of 2020.”
The minister expressed confidence that the economy would grow by at least, 3 per cent in 2021.
“Growth in Q2 2021 would have been much stronger had it not been for Agriculture recording slower growth at 1.30 per cent due to several bottlenecks currently negatively affecting the sector and due to the industrial sector contracting by 4.23 per cent largely due to the over 12 per cent contraction in crude oil and natural gas production.
“Nevertheless, the non-oil sector was a major driver of growth during the quarter, recording a growth rate of nearly seven per cent which represents the fastest growth in the non-oil sector since Q3 2014.
“Specific activities which recorded growth during the quarter include: trade, transportation, coal mining, metal ores as well as insurance, each of which recorded double digit growth.
“The report, however, also indicates that some activities such as oil refining, crude petroleum and natural gas production as well as financial services recorded negative quarterly growth. Overall, a total of 42 out of 46 economic activities expanded during the quarter compared to only 13 at the same time last year, while 37 activities performed better than they did last quarter (Q1).”
The Minister disclosed that she would lead a delegation on a road show by the third week of September 2021 to Lagos, London and New York for the Eurobond portion of external borrowing required to fund the 2021 budget.