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Nigeria’s GDP Grows 2.38 Per Cent In 4th Quarter Of 2018

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Nigeria Records Positive Growth

Nigeria’s GDP has grown 2.38 per cent in real terms within the fourth quarter of 2018, showing a 0.27 per cent jump over the fourth quarter of 2017, Naija News understands.

The Real GDP growth posted 5.31 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis, with an annual growth rate of 1.93 per cent printed for the fiscal year of 2018. While the aggregate nominal GDP was at NGN 35.230bn, a higher 12.65 per cent from NGN 31.275bn recorded in the fourth quarter of 2017.

This is according to the latest National Bureau of Statistics report.

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The NBS also said the report showed a rise of about 0.55 percent points when compared with the growth rate in the third quarter of 2018, with real GDP growth on a quarterly basis of about 5.31 percent.

The implication of the fourth quarter growth performance is that real GDP grew at an annual growth rate of 1.93 percent in 2018, compared to 0.82 percent recorded in 2017, an increase of 1.09 percent points.

Analysts said the latest GDP figures are “positively surprising”, as most prediction never expected the performance to be beyond 2.0 percent average, considering the sluggish performance of the economy since exiting recession in 2017.

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The statistician-general of the federation, Yemi Kale, described the GDP performance as good, but inadequate to deal with the unemployment scourge in the economy.

The unemployment rate in the latest report by the statistics agency stood at about 23 per cent, with population growth outstripping that figure at 2.6 per cent per annum.

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The latest figures defy both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank projections, which said the country’s economy was primed to grow at the rate of between 1.98 percent and 2.0 percent during the period.

Further details from the report showed average daily oil production stood at about 1.91 million barrels per day, from about 1.95 million BPD recorded in the same quarter of 2017, and 1.94million BPD in the third quarter of 2018.

Regardless, the latest GDP report showed the oil sector recorded a negative real GDP growth rate of –1.62 percent (year-on-year), a decline of about –12.81 percent points relative to the growth rate in the corresponding quarter of 2017.

In the non-oil sector, the report the sector grew by about 2.70 percent in real terms during the period, which is about 1.25 percent points higher than the growth rate recorded in the fourth quarter of 2017, and 0.38 percent points higher than the growth rate recorded in the previous quarter in 2018.

The performance of key sectors of the economy showed varied growth levels. The agricultural sector showed annual GDP growth of about 14.27 percent, higher than 11.29 percent recorded in 2017.

The sector contributed about 23.08 percent to nominal GDP in the fourth quarter of 2018, which is higher than the corresponding period in 2017 of about 21.93 percent.

The report said the mining and quarrying sector contributed about 6.83 percent to overall GDP in the fourth quarter of 2018, lower than its contribution in the corresponding period in 2017, which recorded about 8.50 percent as well as about 10.55 percent in the preceding quarter.