Cash shortages created by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s naira redesign policy have driven Nigeria’s GDP growth below worldwide predictions from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and African Development Bank.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria’s GDP growth rate declined to 2.31 percent in the first quarter of 2023 from 3.52 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022.
The NBS also revealed that the GDP performance in Q1 2023 was mostly driven by the services sector, which grew by 4.35 percent and contributed 57.29 percent to the aggregate GDP. Prof Bongo Adi, a senior lecturer at Lagos Business School, told The PUNCH that the electioneering season played a role.
He warned that there is likely danger ahead if the country fails to boost oil production. “Experts reacting to this, a facilitator with the Nigeria Economic Summit Group, Dr Ikenna Nwaosu, however, insisted that the move would support a rise in inflation.