By Obinna Chima
The collapse in oil prices coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to plunge the Nigerian economy into a severe economic recession, the worst since the 1980s, the World Bank has predicted.
The Bank made the prediction in its latest Nigeria Development Update (NDU).
The report, “Nigeria In Times of COVID-19: Laying Foundations for a Strong Recovery,” released on Thursday, estimated that Nigeria’s economy would likely contract by 3.2 per cent in 2020.
This projection assumed that the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria is contained by the third quarter of 2020.
If the spread of the virus becomes more severe, the economy could contract further.
“Before COVID-19, the Nigerian economy was expected to grow by 2.1 per cent in 2020, which means that the pandemic has led to a reduction in growth by more than five percentage points.
“The macroeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will likely be significant, even if…
Source: Thisday Newspaper
