NIGERIA'S economy has fallen by 0.36% during the first quarter of 2016 from a comparative increase of 2.11% during the same period last year according to data just published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
In a sure sign that the country is reeling from the effects of falling oil prices, Nigeria's gross domestic product (GDP) is now in a negative. Information minister Alhaji Lai Mohammed, revealed that as a result, the federal government was broke and taking painful decisions and tough adjustments.
He said the decision to increase the pump price of petrol to N145 per litre from N86.50 was one of those decisions to free funds for government’s other financial obligations. With this negative growth rate, the country appears to be on a recessionary mode as it requires one more negative growth rate in the next quarter to enter into recession.
It also emerged yesterday that the unemployment rate in the Nigerian economy climbed to 12.1% in the first quarter of this year compared with 10.4% during the fourth quarter of 2015 and 9.9% in the third quarter of 2015. The economy had contracted to 3.86% and 2.35% respectively in the first and second quarters of 2015 before rebounding to 2.84 in the third quarter and further shrunk to 2.11% during the fourth quarter of 2015.
The current decline represents the first contraction since June, 2004, which is a 12-year-low. According to the first quarter 2016 GDP estimates which was released by the NBS yesterday, first quarter growth rate was lower by 2.47% from the growth recorded in the preceding quarter and further lower by 4.32% from the rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2015.
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