The National Bureau of Statistics has disclosed that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nigeria will surpass the earlier projection by the bureau following the 3.11 percent figure recorded in the first quarter. The Statistician-General and also CEO of the National Bureau, Mr. Semiu Adeyemi Adeniran made this disclosure during an oath-taking yesterday, noting that it has been a trend that the first quarter was always associated with economy nose-diving due to the spending spree peculiar to Nigerians after the yuletide season and government partial implementation of spending.
This year Q1 has the highest growth since the year 2020 when the Nigerian economy slides into recession due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic that threatened the economy across the globe.
Adeniran said, “Based on the GDP figure released, it is higher than the growth rate that we had in Q1 2021.”
He added that the 3.11 increase is an indication that the second quarter will shoot up higher than what is obtainable at present and tentatively will surpass the 3.14 that was pegged by the International Monitory Fund (IMF).
A developmental economic guru, Prof. Keneth Ife also agreed to the NBS boss's submission while applauding the strategist for tailoring the Nigerian economy to the path, affirming that the GDP for 2022 will hit 5 percent.
Ife said, “It is in the next (second) quarter when food will begin to come out and inflation will start to stem down a bit. There will be more economic activities and the peak is always in December when all the tubers have come out and people start spending money on Christmas and other expenditures. They will mirror the increase in the GDP.”
Although he laments that the weakening of the naira was a major setback in the economy.
