The latest
rating of the Nigerian economy by the global rating agency, Fitch, which acknowledged
the reforms being undertaken by the President Goodluck Jonathan administration
in the power and agricultural sectors as well as growing investors’ confidence
in the economy, has been received with satisfaction by the presidency.
The agency had on Wednesday
affirmed Nigeria’s long-term foreign and local currency, Issuer Default
Ratings, IDR and senior unsecured bond ratings at ‘BB-’ and ‘BB’ respectively
with a stable outlook to the Nigerian economy.
The Presidency in its
reaction to the report on Thursday stated that the rating was an attestation to
the success story of the President’s socio-economic blueprint as spelt out in
the Transformation Agenda.
Dr. Doyin Okupe, the Senior
Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs had in a statement said
the rating was indeed gratifying.According to him, it was
pleasing that the rating agency acknowledged the robustness of Federal
Government’s fiscal policies, which he noted had among others, ensured that the
inflation rate declined to eight per cent; the lowest in five years, as well as
ensured that the country successfully avoided “exogenous shocks,” which could
have occurred as a result of severe flooding in most parts of the country last
year coupled with the terrorist activities of Boko Haram in some parts of the
North.
Okupe said, “The Fitch
report, which is consistent with other global rating agencies’ verdict on the
Nigerian economy, also indicate that the non-oil sector is recording
appreciable growth in line with the policy framework of the Transformation
Agenda and that Nigeria’s sovereign and overall external balance sheets,
current account surplus, debt service ratio and external liquidity are all
stronger than the BB category Medians.”
The presidential aide
further stated that the volume of investments coming into the country in the
last two years, especially in critical sectors was confirmed by the latest
ratings just as he noted that the painstaking and transparent execution of
critical components of the power sector road map launched by Mr Jonathan in
August 2010, has been lauded by economic experts and analysts, who described it
as one of the largest singular privatisation exercises in the world.
Okupe added that the
successful privatization of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, which
yielded $3bn and had suffered various set-backs in previous years, had
effectively put Nigeria on a steady path to uninterrupted power supply.
- The Punch
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