Economy grew by 6.28% in Q2 — NBS …as inflation rate drops to 11.7%

The National Bureau of Statistics on Sunday released the country’s Gross Domestic Product figure for the second quarter of 2012, saying that the economy recorded a 6.28 per cent growth in output.

The growth was, however, lower than the 7.61 per cent growth that the economy recorded in the corresponding period of 2011.

The report, which was signed by the Statistician General of the bureau, Dr. Yemi Kale, put the nominal GDP for the second quarter at N9.84tn, as against the N9.17tn recorded in the corresponding period of 2011.

The report said the economy, which is broken into two broad output groups comprising the oil and non-oil sectors, “witnessed lower output in the second quarter of 2012.”

It said the non-oil sector, which was driven by growth in the building and construction sector, recorded a 7.50 growth in real terms, as against 8.85 per cent in the corresponding period in 2011. The oil sector contributed about 13.86 per cent to real GDP, compared to 14.84 per cent.

In terms of sectoral contribution, the report said real agricultural GDP growth in the second quarter of 2012 stood at 3.97 per cent, as against 5.95 per cent in the corresponding period of 2011.

It said, “The year on year decline in agriculture output may be largely attributed to persisting constraints in some of the major agricultural states, especially in the northern part of the country, which hindered movement of farm inputs and produce, as well as opportunities to expand farming areas.

“On another level, high rainfall intensity during the quarter resulted in flooding in some parts of the country, further affecting output levels.”

For the finance and insurance sector, the report said the sector recorded a growth of 4.77 per cent in the second quarter compared with 4.61 per cent.

The increase in growth of the sector was traceable to the increased activities in the bond market, which has favoured key players in the industry, especially pen-sion fund managers, banks and insurance firms, thus increasing the vibrancy in business activities in the sector.

It attributed the increase in the growth of the sector to renewed activities in the bond market that favoured key players in the industry, especially pension fund managers, banks and insurance firms.

For the wholesale and retail trade sector, the NBS report stated that the sector grew by 8.61 per cent in the second quarter, representing a decline of 2.86 per cent over the 11.47 per cent recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2011. It attributed the decline in growth “to a decrease in consumer demand, as a result of continued re-allocation of consumption budgets in the face of generally higher prices of consumer goods while disposable income remained relatively unchanged.”

Other contributors to the GDP within the period under review are telecommunications, 29.77 per cent; real estate, 10.87 per cent and business and other services, 11.27 per cent.

For the manufacturing sector, the report said it recorded a marginal increase in growth from 7.34 per cent to 7.45 per cent.

It added that the improved power supply for manufacturing activities in parts of the country was responsible for the increase.

Meanwhile the NBS, in its Consumer Price Index report, which was also released on Sunday, put the country’s inflation rate at 11.7 per cent for the month of August.

The August figure represented a decline, when compared to the 12.8 per cent recorded in July.

On the reason for the decline in CPI, it said, “The relative moderation in the index is attributable to the relative slower rises in both the food and core indices, partly as a result of aggressive monetary policy initiatives by the Central Bank of Nigeria, base effects and a much lower rise in several food prices, such as yams, tubers and vegetables due to the harvest season.”