Government says non-oil sector out of recession

By Idris OlumuyiwaNigeria’s Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, has said that the  government is pleased, that the non-oil sector is now out of recession, as shown by recent figures by the National Bureau of Statistics.Mr Udoma said this while briefing journalists after Wednesday’s meeting of the Federal Executive Council, FEC.The cabinet meeting, was presided over by Vice President Yemi Osibanjo, who held brief for President Muhammadu Buhari, who is in Malabo, attending the 4th Africa-Arab Summit.He said: “The good news is that the non-oil sector is improving. The sector has moved out of recession. It’s now 0.03 percent; so the sector is moving in the direction that is most encouraging for the government.”“In the Federal Executive Council, we always review the performance of the economy and at today’s meeting we looked at numbers released on Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics NBS, which showed that the economy is still in recession because the performance in the third quarter is slightly worse than the second quarter and this was attributable to the performance of the oil sector, which has been badly affected by the activities of militants but we believe that the fourth quarter will be far better,” Udoma said.