Policy Brief & Alerts
May 17, 2017
Understanding The Ongoing Recession In Nigeria:A Synthesis Of The Events And Policy Options
In
the second quarter of 2016, the Nigerian economy witnessed its first recession
in twenty years due to the interplay of several external and internal factors.
The recession has continued until date and has given rise to relentless
unemployment rate and job losses, double digit and soaring inflation, currency
depreciation and widening gap between parallel market and official exchange
rates, amongst other adverse effect on individuals and firms in the country.
Thus, there is a need to take a deeper look into the nature of the present
recession as well as the impact of monetary and fiscal policy responses thus
far, in order to shed light on the way forward towards tackling the recession
and ensuring sustainable economic growth. This paper analyses the ongoing
recession in the Nigerian economy to provide insights into the interplay of
events and recommendations for policy.
Related
Africa Economic Update (Issue 8)
Economic growth in Africas largest economies improved in the second quarter of 2017 (2017Q2) relative to the preceding quarter (2017 Q1), as Nigeria and South Africa exited recession. Specifically, GDP growth rate was 0.55 percent and 1.1 percent for Nigeria and South Africa in 2017Q2, compared to 0.91 percent and 0.7 percent in 2017Q2, respectively. The increased growth in Nigerias economy was driven by improved performance in the oil sector (increased crude oil price and production) which offset the decrease in non-oil sector growth, while South Africas emergence from recession is supported by growth in its agriculture sector complimented by growth in finance, real estate, business service, mining and quarrying sectors.