Second quarter GDP performance not so bad as thought-Presidency

Contrary to the widespread fears elicited by the negative GDP performance in the second quarter of 2020, the Presidency has said the result is not so bad as many people had thought.

Femi Adesina, president Muhammadu Buhari’s special adviser on media and publicity, stated this on Wednesday.

In a statement, Adesina said the second quarter 2020 gross domestic product (GDP) estimates released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), when compared with those of other countries, fared better as many countries far worse economic performance.

The NBS released the second quarter GDP report on Tuesday, showing GDP declining by –6.10% (year-on-year) in real terms in the second quarter of 2020, ending the country’s hope of full recovery from the earlier recession of 2016. The economy had been crawling ever since but growing slowly.

During the first half of 2020, real GDP declined by –2.18% year-on-year, compared with 2.11% recorded in the first half of 2019.

However, the NBS said the overall decline of -6.1% (for Q2 2020) and -2.18 per cent (for H1 2020) was better than the projected forecast of -7.24% as estimated by the National Bureau of Statistics.

“The figure was also relatively far better than many other countries recorded during the same quarter. “Furthermore, despite the observed contraction in economic activity during the quarter, it outperformed projections by most domestic and international analysts.

“It also appears muted compared to the outcomes in several other countries, including large economies such as the US (-33%), UK (-20%), France (-14%), Germany (-10%), Italy (-12.4%), Canada (-12.0%), Israel (-29%), Japan (-8%), South Africa (projection -20% to -50%), with the notable exception of only China (+3%). “