Nigeria’s economy grows by 1.4% in third quarter – NBS

An  official data showed on Monday that Nigeria’s economy continued its recovery from recession, rising 1.4 percent in the third quarter of this year on increased oil production.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said it was the second quarter of consecutive growth since the country emerged from recession.
“This growth is 3.74 percentage points higher than the rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2016 (-2.34 percent) and higher by 0.68 percentage points from the rate recorded in the preceding quarter (of 2017),” it said.
According to the agency, daily oil production rose in the third quarter, averaging 2.03 million barrels per day (bpd), compared to 1.87 million bpd in the preceding quarter.
“Real growth of the oil sector was 25.89 percent (year-on-year) in Q3 2017. This represents an increase of 48.92 percent relative to rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2016,” it said.
Nigeria depends on the sector for 70 percent of government revenues and 90 percent of export earnings.
The country slipped into recession for the first time in more than two decades in August 2016 after a sustained fall in global oil prices and militant attacks in the Niger Delta.
The Federal Government has been trying to reduce the country’s reliance on oil but the NBS said non-oil sector only grew 0.76 percent in the quarter.
“This is lower by -0.79 percentage points compared to the rate recorded same quarter, 2016 and -1.20 percentage points lower than in the second quarter of 2017,” it said.
President Muhammadu Buhari early this month presented a record N8.6 trillion ($24 billion, 20.8 billion euros) Budget aimed at supporting economic recovery in 2018.