An Economist, Mr Titus Okurounmi, has urged the Federal Government to implement the Economic Sustainability Plan, in order to reflate the country’s economy and grow it out of recession.
Okurounmi, a former Director of the Central Bank of Nigeria , made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Monday.
According to him, investing in infrastructure aimed at enhancing the service sector will rebound the country’s GDP growth.
“ The 3.62 per cent contracted growth which led to a recession is triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“ The pandemic had affected the price of oil in the international market, leading to revenue shock for the government,” he said.
He said the federal government must continue to improve the conditions of doing business to attract investors, as this was the second time the recession was occurring.
Proffering solutions, he said the federal government should consider having more youth empowerment schemes so as to stimulate growth in the economy.
“Having more of such schemes will generate growth especially in the hinterland as the challenges of unemployment will gradually decline because the youth will be engaged,” he said.
NAN reports that Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted by 3.62 per cent (year-on-year) in real terms in the third quarter of 2020.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) made the disclosure in the Nigerian GDP report (Q3 2020) released on its website on Saturday , Nov.21, 2020 in Abuja.
It also indicated that two consecutive quarters of negative growth had been recorded in 2020.
