Nigeria’s economic growth ‘exceeded expectations’ in Q3/2023 says OPEC

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has hinged Nigeria’s economic growth in the third quarter of 2023 which “exceeded expectations” on strong activities in the non-oil sectors.

OPEC, in its Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) for December 2023 recently released disclosed that the country’s economy registered a robust 3.1 per cent year-over-year increase in the third quarter of last year, surpassing the 2.6 per cent y-o-y growth in Q2 2023 and 2.4 per cent y-o-y in Q1 due to strong activity in the non-oil sectors, especially in services and agriculture.

However, OPEC expressed concern about inflationary pressure in the country.

The organisation maintained that Nigeria’s inflation rate rose to 27.3 per cent in October.

The accelerating inflation in the country has been attributed to the removal of petrol subsidies and the devaluation of the naira.

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“Nigeria’s economic growth in 3Q23 exceeded expectations, registering a robust 3.1% y-o-y increase, surpassing the 2.6% y-o-y growth in 2Q23 and 2.4% y-o-y in 1Q23. This positive performance is attributed to strong activity in the non-oil sectors, especially in services and agriculture.

“However, there are concerns about inflationary pressures in Nigeria, with the inflation rate reaching 27.3 per cent y-o-y (in October). This acceleration is largely attributed to persistent second-round effects following the removal of petrol subsidies and the devaluation of the naira.

“The current inflation rate compares to 26.7 per cent y-o-y in September and 25.8 per cent in August. The annual core inflation rate, excluding farm produce, rose to 22.7 per cent y-o-y in October, compared to 22.1 per cent in September and 21.5 per cent in August.

“Meanwhile, monthly consumer prices increased by 1.7 per cent m-o-m in October, following a rise of 2.1 per cent in September and a surge of 3.2 per cent in August.”

The November Stanbic IBTC Bank of Nigeria (Purchasing Manager Index (PMI) dropped to 48, compared to 49.1 in October and 51.1 in September, indicating a challenging economic situation ahead” the report added.

By Babajide Okeowo

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