The Minister of information, Lai Mohammed, has revealed that the Federal Government is doing all that it can to put the economy back on its feet.
Mohammed also said the All Progressives Congress (APC) knew more than five years ago that Nigeria was heading for a recession.
The minister added that the Buhari administration will never keep Nigerians in the dark.
He said “One thing we cannot take away from this government is that it is open, honest and will not keep Nigerians in the dark.
“About a month ago, the Minister of Finance actually told all of us that we are already technically in recession.
“Recession
is not an event, it is a process. We knew more than five years ago that
the country is heading towards recession because the structure of our
economy is faulty.
“Faulty in the sense that for many years we have relied in one product, crude oil.”
Mohammed
also blamed the current economic situation on the activities of
militants in the Niger Delta region, and the drop in crude-oil prices.
Adding
that Nigeria’s economy is driven by consumption and not production, he
said the government is working on making the cost of doing business in
the country more competitive.
According to him, “Crude oil that used to sell for about 100 dollars per barrel, today we are hovering between 40 and 45 dollars per barrel.
“The
2016 budget projected 2.2 million barrels per day at 38 dollars. But
because of the activities of the militants in the Niger Delta region, we
are down to 1.2 to 1.4 million per barrels a day. “We have lost about
one third of production capacity.
“Combine all these together we are heading for recession especially when there is no reserve to cushion the effects.”
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