Why Buhari remains best hope for Nigerian economy – Presidency
http://www.hrlnews.com/2019/08/why-buhari-remains-best-hope-for.html
The Presidency has described as untrue the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) assertion that the Nigerian economy is in trouble.
A presidential Spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, who debunked the PDP
assertion in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday, lectured the party on
the Buhari administration’s economic score card.
Shehu noted that in keeping with historical trends, there was less economic activity during the electoral cycle.
He, however, said that the economy grew by 2.35 per cent in second
quarter of 2015 and 3.96 per cent in first quarter of 2015 as compared
to 5.94 per cent in fourth quarter of 2014.
He said: ”While foreign direct investment can help, it is not the
only source of investment in the economy. There is also domestic
investment which is either undertaken by the government or by the
private sector.
”It is also noteworthy that capital importation into Nigeria grew by
216 per cent in the first quarter of 2019 as compared to the last
quarter of 2018.”
He further noted that the foreign portfolio investment, which is
still foreign investment, was 7.14 billion dollars in the first quarter
of the year.
”A look at business pages in newspapers shows that there is a lot of business activity going on in the country.
”Two stories in today’s paper point to increasing economic activity.
”First is that the profit of UACN grew in the first half of this year by 61 per cent.
”Second is that Business Day (pg1) states that cargo imports jumped
by 21 per cent in the first half of 2019. Increasing imports is a
pointer to greater economic activity and the availability of foreign
exchange with which to conduct business.
The presidential aide observed that a major constraint to business
was the Apapa gridlock which a number of companies had listed as the
major impediment to doing business.
He, however, noted that this situation had been improved tremendously.
Shehu revealed that, in his first four years, Buhari improved
relations with China, the U.S. and Europe and had won their support for
the administration’s development agenda.
He also disclosed that the President had channeled unprecedented sums
of money into infrastructure development, saying that capital spending
had been kept at about 30 per cent of annual budgets.
”Construction of roads, highways, public transport and airports have sharply increased. Government is spending heavily on power.
”This, combined with private sector investment has grown generation capacity to 13 megawatts.
”All said and done, President Buhari remains the best hope for the
Nigerian economy. The country needs change and this remains the person
with the will and determination to deliver,” he added.
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