Nigeria’s economy performed better than US, UK, others in 2nd quarter – Presidency

The presidency says the second-quarter gross domestic product figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday was better than projected figures.

In a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, the Presidency noted that the Federal Government’s early realisation of the impending economic gloom and the prompt response through various interventions, including the Economic Sustainability Programme (ESP), had helped the country realise the fairer outcome.

“The overall decline of -6.1 percent (for Q2 2020) and -2.18 percent (for H1 2020) was better than the projected forecast of -7.24 percent as estimated by the National Bureau of Statistics. The figure was also relatively far better than many other countries recorded during the same quarter,” the statement read.

“Despite the observed contraction in economic activity during the quarter, it outperformed projections by most domestic and international analysts.

“It also appears muted compared to the outcomes in several other countries, including large economies such as the US (-33 percent), UK (-20 percent), France (-14 percent), Germany (-10 percent), Italy (-12.4 percent), Canada (-12.0 percent), Israel (-29 percent), Japan (-8 percent), South Africa (projection -20 percent to -50 percent), with the notable exception of only China (+3 percent).”