The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise has expressed worry that the oil sector has continued to play a leading role in the generation of foreign exchange and a significant role in the generation of government revenue.
In a statement titled “CPPE Comments on the 2022 second quarter GDP numbers,” and signed by its Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Muda Yusuf, the economic think-tank said many businesses were struggling to cope with the numerous challenges and shocks to the economy.
It said citizens were also experiencing serious economic hardship as a result of the galloping inflation and the impact on purchasing power.
The report read in part, “Meanwhile, the GDP report has further underlined the dominance of the non-oil sector which accounted for 93.67 per cent of GDP, while the oil sector accounted for 6.63 per cent.
“However, the oil sector continues to play a leading role in the generation of foreign exchange and a significant role in the generation of government revenue. This underscores the persistent productivity challenges which have continued to characterise the non-oil sector of the economy. The non-oil contribution to our export earnings is still less than five per cent.”
The statement added that the power sector reforms should be reviewed to improve efficiency and productivity in the industry.
It stated that the challenges in Nigeria’s electricity supply chain should be urgently addressed, from gas to power transmission, distribution, energy pricing, metering, and the capacity of the distribution companies.
It further noted that notwithstanding the fact that the Nigerian economy had been out of recession since the fourth quarter of 2020, the oil and gas, oil refining, textiles, electricity, gas and steam engines had remained in recession.
