Nigeria’s economic growth is vulnerable – Sanusi

CBN Governor, Lamido Sanusi

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, said on Thursday that the rate of the country’s economic growth was at risk due to reliance on other countries’ development.

Bloomberg quoted Sanusi as saying, in a speech delivered at the African Development Bank conference in Gammarth, Tunisia, that Nigeria’s rate of economic growth “is vulnerable because of dependency on expansion in other countries.”

He added, “Expansion has been achieved, not because of policy success, but in spite of policy failures. African countries, including Nigeria, should better control their own economic development.

”If Asia continues growing, if the good numbers that we saw in Britain and Germany are signs of the absence of a double-dip recession; then, we are likely to continue growing. For how long will we continue to be subject to the successes and failures of other countries?”

Sanusi noted that Nigeria would boost growth with infrastructure projects that would be profitable investments for funders, rather than donations by foreign aid groups.

The Minister of Finance, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, had said recently that Nigeria‘s economy would expand by 7.75 per cent in 2010, outpacing 2009‘s rate of seven per cent.

The International Monetary Fund recently rated Nigeria as the third fastest growing economy in the world after China and India, insisting that the nation‘s economy had grown from 6.9 per cent in 2009 to 7.4 per cent this year.

Aganga had described the rating by IMF as a good development, saying, “The rating is a good one, coming at a time when the economies of the developed countries are contracting. With the new policies being initiated by the Federal Government, the economy will witness a turnaround in a very short time.”

Aganga had said at a joint press conference with Sanusi at the World Bank/IMF meetings in Washington DC, United States, that the economic prospect of the country was bright despite the fact that Nigeria was yet to take advantage of opportunities and resources available within the country.

Nigeria achieved 7.4 per cent growth and 48 per cent increase in revenue in the first half of the year.

The IMF‘s statement came on the heels of Fitch‘s rating on the outlook of the nation‘s economy.http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20101029501478