Nigeria Reports $6 Billion FDI in Q1

The Nigerian economy recorded capital inflows valued at over $6 billion in the first quarter of 2018, minister of budget and national planning, Udoma Udoma, said.

The minister who was making a presentation on “Delivering Economic Resilience and Growth” at the Financial Times Nigeria Summit in Lagos, on Thursday, said the inflow was over 600% more than the $1 billion achieved in the first quarter of 2017, AllAfrica reported.

Udoma noted that the substantial increase in capital inflows into the economy was a clear evidence that investors were becoming increasingly confident of the Nigerian economy.

He reiterated that Nigeria’s economic outlook for 2018, particularly over the medium term, was very positive, with growth in the export sector up by 59% between 2016 and 2017.

Government, he stated, was continuing to roll out initiatives, such as the Economic Recovery & Growth Plan Focus labs, aimed at attracting sufficient private sector investments to enable the country achieve the growth target of 7% by 2020.

Although the present administration inherited a challenged economy, the minister said it has succeeded in turning the situation around, with the economy now out of recession and growing again.

He explained that the collapse of oil prices in the global market from $111.8 in June 2014 to as low as $30.7 in January 2016 had set the country’s economy on a downward spiral, particularly without any fiscal buffers, culminating in a recession by the second quarter of 2016.

Government’s response, he said, was an expansionary 2016 budget, supported by a Strategic Implementation Plan that consisted of a series of short term interventions to reflate the economy.

“This was followed by the development of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan in 2017, a medium term plan whose implementation has taken the country out of recession and will place the economy on the path of sustained, diversified and inclusive growth,” he said.