Nigeria’s economy has slid into recession after negative growth in the first two quarters of the year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Wednesday.

Nigeria, Africa’s top economy, has been battered by low oil prices hammering government revenues, weakening the national currency and driving up inflation to an 11-year high.

“In the second quarter of 2016, the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declined by -2.06 percent (year-on-year) in real terms,” the NBS said.

“This was lower by 1.70 percentage points from the growth rate of 0.36 percent recorded in the preceding quarter, and also lower by 4.41 percentage points from the growth rate of 2.35 percent recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2015,” it said.

More details soon

The total value of capital imported into Nigeria in the second quarter of 2016 was estimated to be $647.1 million, which represents a fall of 8.98% relative to the first quarter, and a fall of 75.73% relative to the second quarter of 2015.
This provisional figure would be the lowest level of capital imported into the economy on record, and would also represent the largest year on year decrease. This would be the second consecutive quarter in which these records have been set.
Read more Summary and Download