Business
Stakeholders Score 1st Quarter Economy Low
Some financial experts have rated the performance of the Nigerian economy in the first quarter low.
They told The Tide source in separate interviews in Lagos on Tuesday that the economy performed poorly during the period.
A former Director of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Mr Titus Okunronmu, said that numerous economic challenges contributed to the slow pace of economic growth in the first quarter.
He identified inadequate power supply as one of the problems, stressing that many companies spent huge sums on diesel to generate energy for their operations.
Okunronmu said that the high cost of running businesses had made many companies to relocate to neighbouring countries where electricity is stable.
“Lack of power supply and massive corruption constituted impediments to national development,’’ he said.
He advised the Federal Government to tackle the issue of corruption in ministries and parastatal agencies.
Fund Manager at Regency Assets Management Ltd., Mr Wale Omoregie, said that the removal of petrol subsidy affected the performance of the economy.
He said that removal of the subsidy led to hike in prices of food items and inflation.
“When there is inflation, some people will be worse off. The purchasing power of people would be affected negatively,’’ he said.
Omoregie also attributed the poor performance of the economy to the delay in passing the 2012 budget.
General Manager, Standard Alliance Insurance, Mr Olumide Adegoke, said that the real sector was inactive during the period due to lack of government’s intervention over a long time.
He said that the poor performance of the sector made it difficult for the sector to provide employment opportunities.
The insurance expert said that there was high rate of unemployment in the first quarter of the year.
He, therefore, appealed to the Federal Government to improve on national security and infrastructural development.
“The government should adopt aggressive steps to address the problem in the two areas so that the economy can witness rapid development,’’ he said.
He urged CBN to speedy up the banking reform to restore investors’ confidence in the sector.
General Manager, True Bond Microfinance Bank, Mr Wole Olowu, also said that the performance of the economy in the last quarter was not encouraging.
He, however, commended the performance of the oil sector, noting that the prices of crude oil had continued to rise at the international market.
Olowu said that good performance of the oil sector did not reflect on the total economy as the sector is not huge employer of labour.
He said that expectations were high for the remaining quarters of the year and urged government to put machinery in place to deliver good dividends of democracy.
Olowu advised government to cut down on its expenditure to check inflation.
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