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CBN Governor, Lamido Sanusi
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The report attributed the rise in inflation to “higher price levels of food products due to the effect of declining inventories.”
The inflation rate fell below 10 per cent in January, meeting the Central Bank of Nigeria’s target, as the impact of last year’s higher fuel prices waned.
The CBN Governor, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, had said in March that consumer prices would probably remain between nine per cent and 11 per cent this year.
The NBS also said in the Gross Domestic Product Report for the first quarter of 2013 that the economy expanded by 6.56 in the period.
The report, which was signed by the Statistician-General for the Federation, Dr. Yemi Kale, stated that on aggregate basis, the figure represented an improvement over the 6.34 per cent recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2012.
According to the report, the nominal GDP for the first quarter of 2013 was estimated at N9.493tn as against the N9.142tn recorded during the corresponding quarter of 2012.
“On an aggregate basis, the economy, when measured by the real terms GDP, grew by 6.56 per cent in the first quarter of 2013 as against 6.34 per cent in the corresponding quarter of 2012, and 6.99 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2012,” the report stated.
It said the non-oil sector continued to be the major driver of the economy in the first quarter of this year when compared with the corresponding quarter in 2012.
“The sector recorded 7.89 per cent growth in real terms in the first quarter of 2013 compared with 8.14 per cent in the corresponding period of 2012. The growth in the non-oil sector, however, declined in the first quarter of 2013 when compared with the corresponding quarter of 2012,” it stated.
Within the two broad sectors of the economy, the report stated that the growth in the non-oil sector was driven by activities such as building and construction, hotels and restaurants, agriculture, real estate services, manufacturing, finance and insurance, and solid minerals, among others.
In terms of output, the real agricultural GDP growth in the first quarter of 2013 stood at 4.14 per cent.
Wholesale and retail trade had a growth rate of 8.22 per cent; telecommunications, 24.53 per cent; real estate, 10.26 per cent; manufacturing, 8.41 per cent; business and other services, 8.63 per cent; and finance and insurance, 3.61 per cent,
However, the NBS report stated that output in the oil sector decreased in the first quarter of 2013 relative to the corresponding quarter of 2012.
It said, “During the period under review, the Nigerian oil sector witnessed some levels of disruptions as a result of pipeline vandalism and bunkering incidents, with some oil companies such as Eni (Agip) declaring force majeure during the quarter.
“However, the sector also benefited immensely from the relative stability in international crude oil market price and the exchange rate of naira against the dollar.
“The oil sector contributed about 14.75 per cent to real GDP in the first quarter 2013, compared to the contribution in the first quarter of 2012, which was recorded at 15.80 per cent, and 12.59 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2012.”
The Punch