The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has explained how the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari got Nigeria out of recession.

Source learnt that Mohammed, while speaking with the press, said the country was able to exit the recession that lasted for more than a year because of the efforts put in by the Buhari government.

He stated that the 0.55% growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2017, was one of the major things that got the nation out of recession, Daily Post reports.

He said:“Taking Nigeria out of recession did not happen by accident. It is the culmination of months of hard work by the Administration and fidelity to its well-articulated economic policies, especially the Strategic Implementation Economic Recovery (2016) and the Growth Plan (ERGP) that was launched on 5th April, 2017.

“This positive growth is attributable to both the oil and non-oil sectors of the economy. Growth in the oil sector, which has been negative since Q4 2015, was positive in Q2 2017. It rose by 1.64% as compared to -15.60 in Q1 2017, an increase of up to 17 percentage points.

“The non-oil sector grew by 0.45% in Q2 2017, a second successive quarterly growth after growing 0.72% in Q1 2017. In particular, improvement in the non-oil sector was driven principally by strong growth in agriculture and solid minerals sector, and reversal in the previous contraction of the manufacturing and construction sector. This shows that the government’s economic diversification programme is working.”

Other positive developments listed by the minister are:

1. A fall in the inflation rate from 18% to 16% as of July 2017

2. The rise in exports, coupled with a decrease in imports, which brought the country’s trade balance to N719.4 billion, up from N671.3 billion

3. Increase in capital inflow that brought the total value of capital imported into Nigeria in the second quarter of 2017 to $1,792.3 million, representing a growth of 95.02 percent

4. Increase in foreign reserves to a 30-month high of $31.8 billion in July 2017

5. Appreciation in exchange rate from N520/$ as at 20 February 2017 to N362/$ as at 17th August 2017

Meanwhile, RationalTV.blogspot.com reported earlier that Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti has reacted to news that Nigeriawas out of recession, describing it as inaccurate.

In a statement signed by his spokesperson, Lere Olayinka, on Wednesday, September 6, the Ekiti governor claimed the statistics upon which the claim was based is meaningless to Nigerians.

He said that the reality is that Nigerians are suffering and dying, with foods out of their reach and no amount of economic statistics will make meaning to people who cannot afford to eat once daily.