By Abdullahi M. Gulloma
Nigeria would achieve its vision of becoming one of the 20 most developed economies in the world by the 2020 in view of the achievements recorded by the present administration, Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, said yesterday.
Maku told State House correspondents at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting yesterday in Abuja that said the Council was impressed with the way the country’s economy is being managed.
He said: “The Ministry of National Planning tendered a document to Council reviewing the first National Implementation Plan of Vision 20:2020. Generally speaking, we are impressed by the overall outlook of performance in the first three years between 2010 and 2013.
“The first three years which we reviewed today gave us a lot of hope that if we continue along this parameter between now and 2017, it is quite possible for us to realise our vision in 2020.”
He said the report indicated that the nation’s GDP had continuously grown at an average of seven7 per cent within the years in review, adding that there was a growth of GDP beyond population growth and the Inflation rate came down from 13 to 8 per cent as at the end of 2013.
He said there was also tremendous business growth and increase in standard of living, while the exchange rate under the period remained constant between N150 and N160 to a dollar.
“Under the period, because of the economic reforms that came on board, there was a lot of inflow of Foreign Direct Investment into the economy leading to the high growth rate. Apart from GDP growth, the economy of Nigeria moved quietly and overtook all others in the continent to be the number one. The overall GDP per annum is about $508 billion, which is higher than that of South Africa which is at slightly above $300 billion.”