The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has said there is need to sustain the momentum and policies that will improve the economy and convincingly get the country out of recession.
The Director-General, MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said this while responding to our correspondent on MAN’s view on the recent National Bureau of Statistic’s report on the country’ Gross Domestic Product for the fourth quarter and full year of 2020 which showed Nigeria’s exit from recession.
He said the result showed how hard the various economic actors and agents were working to change the negative narrative that had characterised the economic life in the past few years.
“The momentum should be sustained and improved upon to finally and convincingly get us out of recession,” he said.
He said the NBS report that indicated that Nigeria’s GDP grew by 0.11 per cent (year-on-year) in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2020 was a welcome departure from the negative growths the country had witnessed in the past quarters.
“One may also agree that the positive trend may be an indication that the economy is beginning to gather some momentum after that emasculating effect of the lock downs and constrained economic activities, both local and international,” he said.
Apart from the COVID-19 and the fall in the price of oil in the international market which were fingered to be principally responsible for the country’ slide into recession, he said insecurity, deteriorating infrastructures and inadequate policy support had militated against the concerted efforts of government to take the economy out of recession.
One of the sectors that contributed to this positive growth, according to the NBS, was the manufacturing sector, specifically the food and beverage and tobacco sub-sector, he said.
The director-general said, “When you take a general look at the performance of the nine other sub-sectors, you will see a sector that is struggling.
“And this is aptly demonstrated by our MCCI report that showed a decline from 43.30 per cent in the third quarter of 2020 to 42.06 in the fourth quarter.”
-PUNCH (NG)