We inherited a bad economy, Buhari shades Jonathan
As Nigerians celebrate the independence day, The President of Nigeria reminds Nigerians on who to blame about the poor state of the Economy.
While addressing the nation, Buhari said it is regrettable that the previous governments abandoned the investment-driven sector like arts and entertainment that could provide millions of jobs for Nigerians.
This Administration inherited a skewed economy, where the Oil Sector comprised only 8% of Gross Domestic Product but contributed 70% of government revenue and 90% foreign exchange earnings over the years.
Past periods of relatively high economic growth were driven by our reliance on Oil Sector revenues to finance our demand for imported goods and services.
Regrettably, previous governments abandoned the residual Investment-driven Non-Oil Sector, which constituted 40% of Gross Domestic Product and comprised agriculture, livestock, agro-processing, arts, entertainment, mining and manufacturing activities that provide millions of jobs for able-bodied Nigerians and utilize locally available raw materials and labour for production.
To address this imbalance, our commitment to achieving economic diversification has been at the heart of our financial strategies under the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, which I launched on the 5th of April, 2017.
This medium-term development plan charted the trajectory for our Economy to exit from recession and return to the path of sustainable, diversified and inclusive growth for Nigerians.
According to these reforms, the economy has recovered, and we have had nine successive quarters of growth since our exit from the recession.
The exchange rate in the last three years has remained stable, with robust reserves of US$42.5 billion, up from US$23 billion in October 2016.
Learning from the mistakes of the past, this Administration is committed to responsibly managing our oil wealth endowments.
We will continue to prudently save our oil income and invest more in the non-oil job-creating sectors.
