FG says Nigeria at risk of another recession
- The Nigerian economy would slide into recession if it does not achieve a strong economic performance in the third quarter of 2020
- The minister of state for finance, budget, and national planning, Clement Agba made the disclosure
- Agba said the COVID-19 pandemic caused serious challenges for the Nigerian economy
The Nigerian economy is likely to enter another recession if it does not achieve strong economic performance in the third quarter of 2020, the country’s finance ministry has warned.
Nigeria's gloomy economic prospects were disclosed on Thursday, August 13, by the minister of state for finance, budget and national planning, Clement Agba when he appeared before the House of Representatives joint committees on Finance, Appropriation, budget, and economic development as well as loans, debt management, The Nation reported.
Source: UGC
Agba told the lawmakers that the COVID-19 pandemic caused serious challenges for the Nigerian economy in the first half of 2020, The Nation reported.
He said the Nigerian economy may snowball into a debt sustainability crisis with respect to its revenues if not immediately addressed.
The minister pointed out that the drop in global crude oil prices to below US$20 in April 2020 made the US$57 crude oil price benchmark on which the 2020 budget was based, unsustainable.
Agba explained that Nigeria's custom duty collections in 2020 would be negatively affected by the disruptions in global trade and logistics.
He said the COVID-19 containment measures have inhibited domestic economic activities, with consequential negative impact on taxation and other government revenues.
Legit.ng recalls that the last time Nigeria suffered a recession was in 2016 when global crude oil prices dropped, resulting in forex reserves also dropping, due to the country’s over-reliance on oil revenue.
In other news, the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) has provided support to the tune of $2.9 billion (Ne,099,100,000,000) to West African countries.
According to the president of the bank, George Nana Agyekum Donkor, the decision is in line with the core duty of the bank to enhance the sub-region’s development agenda.
Speaking at the construction site of the Garden City Mall in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, Donkor revealed that EBID was focused on the economic development of member states.
It was gathered that the president of the bank was leading a delegation to inspect the progress of work at the site.
He added that the Garden City Mall project could help enhance Kumasi’s local economy and create jobs, Ghana News Agency reports.
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Source: Legit.ng
