In economics, a recession is a negative economic growth for two consecutive quarters. It is also a business cycle contraction which results in a general slowdown in economic activity. The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) defines recession as "a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales.
Colonialism is a major feature of the economic history of Nigeria. Britain eventually gained control of Nigerian administration. After independence, the Nigerian economy seemed very promising. Many saw Nigeria, with 25% of Africa's population, as an emerging economy. However, this potential never materialized. A series of unfortunate political and economic events have stalled Nigerian growth.
“In the Second Quarter of 2016, the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declined by -2.06% (year-on-year) in real terms,” the NBS report stated. “This was lower by 1.70% points from the growth rate of -0.36% recorded in the preceding quarter, and also lower by 4.41% points from the growth rate of 2.35% recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2015.”
This rapid decline in growth marks the worst recession Nigeria has experienced since the Ibrahim Babangida regime, when the economy declined by 0.51 percent and 0.82 percent in two consecutive quarters in 1987.
The first economic recession that occurred in Nigeria as reported by the NY Times is as follows:
Colonialism is a major feature of the economic history of Nigeria. Britain eventually gained control of Nigerian administration. After independence, the Nigerian economy seemed very promising. Many saw Nigeria, with 25% of Africa's population, as an emerging economy. However, this potential never materialized. A series of unfortunate political and economic events have stalled Nigerian growth.
Recently, there is another economic recession currently in the country, this was released on Wednesday by The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of Nigeria which
released official Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures for the second
quarter of 2016 on Wednesday, confirming that the Nigerian economy is in
recession.
According to the statistics released, the GDP contracted by 2.06
percent in the second quarter of 2016, following a contraction of 0.36
percent in the first quarter. This officially places Nigeria in a
recession, which is defined by two or more consecutive quarters of
negative economic growth.“In the Second Quarter of 2016, the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declined by -2.06% (year-on-year) in real terms,” the NBS report stated. “This was lower by 1.70% points from the growth rate of -0.36% recorded in the preceding quarter, and also lower by 4.41% points from the growth rate of 2.35% recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2015.”
This rapid decline in growth marks the worst recession Nigeria has experienced since the Ibrahim Babangida regime, when the economy declined by 0.51 percent and 0.82 percent in two consecutive quarters in 1987.
The first economic recession that occurred in Nigeria as reported by the NY Times is as follows:
As development became the new religion, Nigeria put
its faith in oil, earning $100 billion in a decade. But oil prices
crashed, and Nigeria found itself with a $21 billion foreign debt, an
urban population dependent on foreign imports and a rural population
that could no longer feed the nation. #2 Courses of Action ''The party
was over,'' Remi Ilori, a Nigerian newspaper columnist, wrote recently.
''We awakened to the reality that we had spent colossal sums of money
feasting. The tables had to be cleared - so many plates of unfinished
food, so many empty bottles of beer.''
Nigeria has embarked on two courses that, once
again, are being watched with interest across Africa. Both involve
controlled liberalization - one in politics, the other in economics.
On the political front, the President, Maj. Gen.
Ibrahim Babangida, who was wounded in the Biafra War, announced plans
last summer for a phased return to civilian rule by 1992.
Determined to create ''a new political generation,''
the gregarious army general moved in September to ban virtually all
former politicians from running for office.
...Many Nigerians and Westerners agreed that radical
surgery was needed, but nationalist sentiment precluded turning to the
International Monetary Fund. Instead, the Government ostentatiously
rejected an I.M.F. loan, and then adopted a ''structural adjustment
program'' that was far more radical that what the fund would probably
have imposed.
Fixed exchange rates were abolished and the value of
the national currency, the naira, was allowed to float. It dropped from
even parity with the dollar to the current rate of well over four to
the dollar.
Commodity marketing boards were abolished, allowing
producer prices to rise. Production of cocoa, cotton and palm oil
rebounded.
This economic collapse in the late 1970s and early 1980s contributed to
substantial discontent and conflict between ethnic communities and
nationalities, adding to the political pressure to expel more than 2
million illegal workers (mostly from Ghana, Niger, Cameroon, and Chad)
in early 1983 and May 1985.
However, here goes Nigeria which was once known in leading the African Continent in another Economic recession worse than the previous one. Is there still hope for the country?
Credits: Wikipedia, Sahara Reporters, NY Times
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