The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has warned that the Nigerian economy may slide into recession if the coronavirus pandemic continues for the next six months.
Ahmed, who gave the warning when she featured on a live television programme, spoke on steps being taken by the federal government to cushion the impact of the corona virus pandemic on the nation’s economy.
She expressed the hope that the pandemic would be limited in time so that the nation should be able to close the year with positive growth, stressing that if the pandemic should go beyond six months the economy would go into recession.
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund, IMF, has said the global economy has entered recession over the ravaging impact of the COVID-19 on different countries.
The Fund’s Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, who dropped the hint while making an opening remark at a conference organized by the International Monetary Fund and Financial Committee, declared that no fewer than 80 countries had approached the Fund for help.
She said a reassessment of the prospect for growth for 2020 and 2021.showed that the world economy had entered a recession that could be as bad as or worse than in 2009.
The IMF boss said a key concern about a long-lasting impact of the sudden stop of the world economy was the risk of a wave of bankruptcies and layoffs that not only could undermine the recovery but also erode the fabric of our societies.
Reacting to the IMF chief’s submission on global recession and how it would affect Nigeria, experts agreed that if the deadly disease persisted, the nation’s economy would face a serious crisis.
New Hands on Deck as Delta Targets Durable Roads under Oborevwori