The Presidency has described as ‘untrue’ the Peoples Democratic
Party’s assertion that the Nigerian economy is in trouble, noting
that, [after] “all said and done, President Buhari remains the best
hope for the Nigerian economy.”
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,
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, compared to the
last quarter of 2018.”
He further noted that the foreign portfolio investment, which is
still foreign investment, was $7.14bn in the first quarter of the
year.
“A look at business pages in newspapers shows that there is a
lot of business activities going on in the country.
“Two stories in today’s (Wednesday) 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 (page 1) 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 upon
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.
(NAN)