LAGOS, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria's economy had now returned to the path of growth after a continuous slide since 2014, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said late Tuesday.
"As is now well known, we exited recession in the second quarter of 2017 with a GDP growth rate of 0.55 percent while inflation has similarly declined continuously from its peak of about 18 percent in January 2017 to about 16 percent today," Osinbajo said while declaring open the 23rd Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, the nation's capital.
"Second, last year there were concerns about the availability of foreign exchange and a rapidly deteriorating exchange rate. The situation has been turned around and stabilized," he added.
According to him, foreign exchange reserves have risen to about 33 billion U.S. dollars and end users have increased access to foreign exchange, noting that this was partly due mainly to increased export earnings and remittances as well as the introduction of a dedicated transparent window for Investors and Exporters (NIFEX).
The VP told his audience that the results have been encouraging as the inflows of capital in the second quarter of 2017 of about 1.8 billion dollars were almost double the amount of 908 million dollars imported in the first quarter of the year.
Osinbajo said another issue of great concern last year that had been resolved was the loss of a significant amount of oil production which he said was solved through constructive dialogue with Niger Delta stakeholders.
Before then, he said, the country lost up to one million barrels a day of crude oil production but production had been restored to nearly two million barrels per day.
He told the gathering that the debt overhang preventing required additional investments in the oil sector was also addressed through the plan to pay off Joint Venture cash call arrears, thus restoring the confidence in the sector.
Osinbajo disclosed that the administration began the process of diversifying the economy, leading with the agricultural sector, noting that agriculture had created a large number of jobs.
The vice president added that the administration had addressed more than 10 key concerns raised by the Economic Group during the 2016 Summit, to grow the economy.
He said the government had promised to take steps to revitalize the railway sector, noting that the narrow gauge railway would soon come into full operation and help to redress the high cost of freight, especially of food items.
He said the concern about non-engagement of the private sector was tackled with the inauguration of Industrial Policy and Competitiveness Advisory Council involving leaders of the public and private sector.
