By Ishaya Ibrahim
Acting News Editor
Nigeria’s economy may shrink the least in the second quarter following a stock market rally, the highest since October 2014 and positive Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), the data that measures changes in business activities.
The National Bureau of Statistics is expected to release the second quarter GDP growth this August.
In the first quarter of 2017, the nation’s GDP shrank by 0.52% (year-on-year), representing the fifth consecutive quarter of contraction.
There is a high chance that the economy will still contract when the NBS release the second quarter economic performance, making it the sixth consecutive quarter Nigeria will be in recession.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that Nigeria was expected to emerge from recession this year with an economic growth of 0.8 percent. But it warned that the economy would not grow enough to reduce unemployment and poverty.
Analysts have said the stock market rally was largely influenced by portfolio investors who come in with hot money to take advantage of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) forex window which seeks to unify the inter-bank and black market rate.
Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) are still low, sales collapsing due to high food inflation and unemployment soaring.
