Says non-oil sector drives GDP growth in Q3 The Federal Government has
accused the National Assembly for delaying the submission of the 2019
budget proposal to both chambers. Minister of Budget and National
Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, said though the presidency has
written the National Assembly to indicate a date when it will be
convenient for President Muhammadu Buhari to present the budget
estimates, the lawmakers were yet to respond. The minister expressed the
concern over the delay on Wednesday while briefing State House
correspondents after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting
presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa,
Abuja. Udoma, however, did not disclose the figures budgeted for 2019.
Buhari had convened a special FEC session last Friday where the budget
estimates was approved. “As you already know, the budget is ready. We
are liaising with the National Assembly because they are to give us a
date. If they say today, we will go. The budget is ready,” he said. The
Daily Times recalls that FEC had on October 24 this year approved the
Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP)
for the 2019 -2021 to provide template for the 2019 budget. In the
MTF/FSP, N8.73 trillion was estimated for the 2019 budget which is
N400bn lower than that of 2018. The price of crude oil per barrel was
pegged at $60, exchange rate at $305 and daily crude oil production was
put at 2.3m by the FEC. The MTEF/ FSP was designed to translate
strategic development objective of the economic recovery and growth plan
into a realistic and implementable budget framework. Meanwhile, Udoma
also reported a slight increase in Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) which was shored up from 1.5 percent in Q2 of 2018 to 1.81 percent
in Q3 of the same year. He said the non-oil sector which had suffered
neglect in previous administrations facilitated the growth. According to
him, transportation, electricity, telecommunication, metal-oils, quarry
among others grew the GDP by 3.32 percent in Q3 and represented the
strongest growth trajectory in twelve consecutive quarters since the Q4
of 2015. He said: “Today, I reported to FEC that we have seen steady
recovery from the recession period. The report indicates that the
economy when measured by real GDP grew at 1.81 percent in the Q3, 2018,
compared to 1.5 percent in the Q2, 2018. “FEC was particularly
encouraged to note that economic growth continues to be driven by the
non-oil sector which grew by 3.32 percent in the 3rd quarter, this has
been the strongest growth in non-oil GDP in twelve consecutive quarters
since the 4th quarter of 2015. “By economic activity, non-oil growth was
driven by transportation, electricity, telecommunication, metal oils,
quarry and so on. In addition, agriculture and manufacturing sectors
also grew, agriculture by 1.91 percent manufacturing by 1.92 percent.
These are stronger growth than in the 2nd quarter. So overall, Council
was most encouraged by these results which shows improvement in the
economy and that our plans are working”FG blames NASS for delaying 2019 budget presentation
Says non-oil sector drives GDP growth in Q3 The Federal Government has
accused the National Assembly for delaying the submission of the 2019
budget proposal to both chambers. Minister of Budget and National
Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, said though the presidency has
written the National Assembly to indicate a date when it will be
convenient for President Muhammadu Buhari to present the budget
estimates, the lawmakers were yet to respond. The minister expressed the
concern over the delay on Wednesday while briefing State House
correspondents after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting
presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa,
Abuja. Udoma, however, did not disclose the figures budgeted for 2019.
Buhari had convened a special FEC session last Friday where the budget
estimates was approved. “As you already know, the budget is ready. We
are liaising with the National Assembly because they are to give us a
date. If they say today, we will go. The budget is ready,” he said. The
Daily Times recalls that FEC had on October 24 this year approved the
Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP)
for the 2019 -2021 to provide template for the 2019 budget. In the
MTF/FSP, N8.73 trillion was estimated for the 2019 budget which is
N400bn lower than that of 2018. The price of crude oil per barrel was
pegged at $60, exchange rate at $305 and daily crude oil production was
put at 2.3m by the FEC. The MTEF/ FSP was designed to translate
strategic development objective of the economic recovery and growth plan
into a realistic and implementable budget framework. Meanwhile, Udoma
also reported a slight increase in Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) which was shored up from 1.5 percent in Q2 of 2018 to 1.81 percent
in Q3 of the same year. He said the non-oil sector which had suffered
neglect in previous administrations facilitated the growth. According to
him, transportation, electricity, telecommunication, metal-oils, quarry
among others grew the GDP by 3.32 percent in Q3 and represented the
strongest growth trajectory in twelve consecutive quarters since the Q4
of 2015. He said: “Today, I reported to FEC that we have seen steady
recovery from the recession period. The report indicates that the
economy when measured by real GDP grew at 1.81 percent in the Q3, 2018,
compared to 1.5 percent in the Q2, 2018. “FEC was particularly
encouraged to note that economic growth continues to be driven by the
non-oil sector which grew by 3.32 percent in the 3rd quarter, this has
been the strongest growth in non-oil GDP in twelve consecutive quarters
since the 4th quarter of 2015. “By economic activity, non-oil growth was
driven by transportation, electricity, telecommunication, metal oils,
quarry and so on. In addition, agriculture and manufacturing sectors
also grew, agriculture by 1.91 percent manufacturing by 1.92 percent.
These are stronger growth than in the 2nd quarter. So overall, Council
was most encouraged by these results which shows improvement in the
economy and that our plans are working”
