- CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, says Nigeria’s recovery from recession remains very fragile
- Emefiele states that the economy must be supported to avoid another recession
- The IMF projects that Nigeria’s economy will grow faster than South African economy in the 2018 fiscal year
The economic recession being experienced in Nigeria may last longer if the government fails to take cogent steps to enforce policies that support the current fragile growth, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele has warned.
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Emefiele who made the disclosure on Tuesday, July 25 shortly after a monetary policy meeting said forecast available to the committee shows that Nigeria’s recovery from recession remains very fragile, The Cable reports.
The governor noted that the economy must be supported to avoid another recession.
“Available forecasts of key macroeconomic indicators point to a fragile economic recovery in the second quarter of the year,” Emefiele said in Abuja.
“The Committee cautioned that this recovery could relapse in a more protracted recession if strong and bold monetary and fiscal policies are not activated immediately to sustain it.
“Thus, the expected fiscal stimulus and non-oil federal receipts, as well as improvements in economy-wide non-oil exports, especially agriculture, manufacturing, services and light industries, all expected to drive the growth impetus for the rest of the year must be pursued relentlessly."
The governor of the apex bank said some measures which need to be put in place in order to enhance confidence and sustainability of economic recovery include the timely implementation of the 2017 Budget, improved management of foreign exchange, as well as security gains across the country, especially, in the Niger Delta and North Eastern axis.
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“The Committee identified the downside risks to this outlook to include weak financial intermediation, poorly targeted fiscal stimulus and absence of structural programme implementation," he said.
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected that Nigeria’s economy will grow faster than South African economy in the 2018 fiscal year, despite Nigeria’s inflation rate of 16.10 per cent in June, 2017.
The IMF made the recent projection in its World Economic Outlook (WEO) for July 2017, where it stated that Nigeria will grow at 1.9 per cent in 2018, while South Africa will only leap by 1.2 per cent, Vanguard reports.
According to its forecast for 2017, the Nigeria economy was expected to grow by 0.8 per cent, while that of South Africa’s was projected at 1 per cent.
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