THE Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, yesterday said that he presented a memo to the Federal Executive Council, FEC, on the recent release of economic performance of the country in the last quarter which he said showed that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 1.92 percent.
Senator Udoma who stated this while briefing State House correspondents said, the growth was higher than that of the previous quarter, when the economy grew by 1.40 per cent and 0.72 per cent in the second quarter, which he said showed that Nigeria had fully exited recession.
According to him, “I presented a briefing to the Federal Executive Council today the most recent Gross Domestic Product and other related economic performance numbers as released last week by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
“You will recall that the Nes indicated that in the last quarter of 2017 the economy had continued its positive growth trajectory by growing by 1.92 per cent.
This is higher than the previous quarter when it grew by 1.40 per cent.And higher still from the 2nd Quarter, when it grew by 0.72 percent.The numbers clearly show that the economy has fully exited recession.”
Also briefing, the Minister of Niger Delta, Pastor Usani Uguru Usani said the council also approved the redesign of section five of East – West Road meant to link Oron in Akwa Ibom to Calabar in Cross River State.
He said that the first contract awarded for section five all together was unimplementeable On his part, Minister of Defence, Brigadier-General Mansur Dan-Ali presented the status of the implementation of approved capital projects and achievements of the Ministry from 2015 to 2017.
He said the presentation covered the strategic policies of the Ministry which is to build and maintain flexible, compact and highly trained Armed Forces capable of defending the territorial integrity of the nation.
The minister said his brief also covered the serviceability of the military platforms, operational readiness, future and projections and the way forward.