Nigeria’s economic
slump sharpened in the third quarter as rebels bombed oil pipelines in the
restive south and businesses struggled to access foreign exchange, official
data showed Monday.
The third quarterly contraction in a row comes
as the West African nation reels from a crash in global oil prices, which have
collapsed from over $100 a barrel in 2014 to currently around half that.
A recession appeared inevitable when militants
renewed attacks on the country’s oil infrastructure early this year, strangling
production that accounts for around 70 percent of government revenue and the
bulk of Nigeria’s export earnings.
The relentless sabotage has put the Nigerian
government under pressure as economists increasingly question whether President
Muhammadu Buhari can pull the country out of recession.
No comments:
Post a Comment