August 25, 2023
Unemployment rate down to 4.1% in Q1
Our investment drive on course, by Shettima
Nigerians had a glimpse of the economic outlook yesterday.
The Federal Government stepped up efforts to rein in inflation, increase productivity and boost savings and investments.
The initiatives are expected to lead to a general improvement in the average living standards.
Vice President Kashim Shettima and Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Mr Wale Edun said Nigerians should expect significant improvements in the overall economic performance.
The assurances came as the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicated that the unemployment rate reduced from 5.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022 to 4.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2023.
Edun said ongoing government initiatives would put an end to hyperinflation and a decade-long decline in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita.
He spoke at the retreat fro the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms in Abuja.
According to him, the era of GDP per capita falling by 30 per cent over the past 10 years is over with the president’s ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’.
He also assured that the issue of “hyper-inflation in the nation’s economy would soon be a thing of the past”.
Nigeria’s inflation rate rose by 129 basis points from 22.79 per cent in June to 24.08 per cent in July, driven by the general increase in prices of basic living costs.
Edun noted that the government’s agenda would “create jobs, reduce poverty, control micro and macroeconomic policies, attract investors, stabilize the exchange rate and drive the economy to reduce poverty to the lowest level”.
He noted that although the removal of fuel subsidy has slowed down the economy, interventions have been put in place to cushion the pains of reform and correct subsidy leakages.
Edun reminded members of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms of Tinubu’s 30-day deadline to deliver something tangible on their assignment, urging them to fast-track their assignment.
The Nation.
