Harboursandport.com: Lagos ---- National
President of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents, ANLCA, Tony
Iju Nwabunike, has blamed to slow growth in the nation’s economy in the first
quarter of the year on slow activities at the beginning of the year, government
policies and high tariff place on some category of imported goods.
 |
| Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun |
Recall
that the National Bureau of
Statistics (NBS) yesterday said that the
country's economic growth slowed to 1.95 percent in first quarter of 2018,
Q1'18, from 2.11 percent in fourth quarter of 2017, Q4'17.
According to Nwabunike, “There is always depreciation
in every first quarter because Nigeria is an importing nation. Most of the
consignments for revenue generation comes from the oil and gas sector and the
maritime sector and even in the oil and gas sector, we are exporting.
“The
slow growth may also have been affected by the consumption level and even in
the maritime sector, most of our importers do not do great turnover in the first
quarter, they do not import heavily in the first quarter, it is always in the
last quarter.
“So
the consumption rate of the average Nigerian is very low, the economic situation
also affects the purchasing power of Nigerians. The policies of the government
too also affect it in a way, some of the consignments have been banned, an
example is tomato and some other items.
 |
| National President of ANLCA, Hon. Tony Iju Nwabunike |
“Even
the 21 items that are banned, I think they should have been review because they
are also affecting the Nigerian economy.
“In
totality, the policies and the import guidelines are also affecting the
economy, government should relax it policies a little in areas where they
cannot encourage the manufacturers effectively well, for example the production
of tomato.
“High
tariff is equally a factor and that is why smuggling is on the raise because
most of the smuggled goods are those with high tariff. If government reviews
these policies, such goods will come into the country and duty will be paid on
them.
“This
will lead to reduction in the revenue lost to smuggling by the government
annually,” he noted.
The report stated that the oil sector’s
contribution to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP remains below 10 per cent
in Q1 figures of the nation’s.
According to the NBS, the nation’s GDP grew
by 1.95 per cent year-on-year- in real terms in the first quarter of 2018.
Although the nation recorded some growth in the oil sector during the period,
the contribution formed only 9.61 per cent of the total, with the non- oil
sector accounting for the rest. This is despite an increase in the daily oil
production to an average of 2.0 million barrels per day (mbpd), higher than the
1.95 mbpd in the fourth quarter of 2017. The report stated that real growth of
the oil sector was 14.77 per cent (year-on-year) in first quarter of 2018. This
represented an increase of 30.37 per cent points relative to rate recorded in
the corresponding quarter of 2017. Quarter-on-Quarter, the oil sector
grew by 13.24 per cent in first quarter, 2018, NBS said. This was up from 8.53
per cent in the first quarter and 7.35 per cent in the fourth quarter recorded
in 2017. In comparison, non-oil sector grew by 0.76 per cent in
real terms during the quarter under review. This was higher by 0.04 per cent point
compared to the rate recorded same quarter of 2017 and 0.70 per cent point
lower than the fourth quarter of 2017. The report stated that the sector’s
growth was driven mainly by agriculture (Crop production),
financial institutions and insurance, manufacturing, transportation and storage
as well as information and Communication. In real terms, the Non-Oil
sector contributed 90.39 per cent to the nation’s GDP, lower than 91.47 per
cent recorded in the first quarter of 2017 and 92.65 per cent recorded in the
fourth quarter of 2017. Overall, the Nigerian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew
by 1.95% (year-on-year) in real terms in the first quarter of 2018. The bureau
stated that the figure shows a stronger growth compared with the first quarter
of 2017, which recorded a growth of –0.91 per cent indicating an increase of
2.87 per cent points. Compared to the preceding quarter, there was a decline of
-0.16% points from 2.11%, NBS said. Quarter on quarter, real GDP growth was
-13.40% as oil production estimates for the third and fourth quarters of
2017 have been revised and oil GDP for those quarters have been adjusted
accordingly. According to NBS figures, aggregate GDP for the first
quarter stood at N28.4 trillion in nominal terms. “This performance
is higher when compared to the first quarter of 2017 which recorded a nominal
GDP aggregate of N26.028 trillion thus, presenting a positive year on year
nominal growth rate of 9.36%. This rate of growth is however lower relative to
growth recorded in Q1 2017 by -7.70% points at 17.06% but higher than the preceding
quarter by 2.14% points at 7.22%.”
No comments:
Post a Comment