Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clement Agba, has reacted to the seeming sluggish effect of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) indices on the income of Nigerians.

Agba, who made an effort to discuss the financial signs, likewise questioned why Nigerians may not be seeing much impact despite a favourable development rate in two to three quarters as reflected by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS.

He made the descriptions, shortly after the Federal Executive Council meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday.

According to him, the government stays committed to bringing down the inflation rate and enhancing the economy, which has seen positive growth in the last 8 months.

Pointing Out the National Development Plan 2021-2025, Agba noted that deal with reviving the economy is a continuous one even as he stated he might not offer a guaranteed timeline to lower the inflation to the level that will positively affect all Nigerians.

His response followed questions from State House reporters on why it appears that Nigerians are not feeling the effect of the GDP growth.

He responded saying, “First, you say the figures that were given show that there is a positive trajectory in terms of the economy. I believe first we need to understand what GDP itself indicates. It’s the totality of the worth of services and goods, it’s a sign of what is occurring in the economy, when you are having more to invest, more transactions are going on.

“It indicates that the economy itself is growing and if it is decreasing, and you have such an unfavorable decline in two quarters, then we will say you remain in an economic crisis.

“And NBS has regularly given these figures, whether they are positive, or they are negative, and then we compare them either on a month on month basis, or year on year basis.

“And then we likewise have what those figures are yearly, which tend to show us or show whether we are making progress or not.

“What those numbers show is that there’s constant progress that is being made. Whether it is far reaching enough, is a different ballgame.

“And that’s why you see in the National Development Plan 2021 to 2025, we are searching for a growth rate of an average of 5%.

“We have not gotten there yet however it is beginning to move towards that trajectory. “

“In regards to inflation, for about 17 months consecutively, you find that the inflation rate was going up, but what we are starting to see is that for eight consecutive months, there’s a steady decline.

“But in December, we observed that there was a small boost. Naturally, you understand what generally would happen at the end of the year when everybody’s chasing after the few available items.

“So, the economy is being worked on, is an operate in development, I can’t offer you a conclusive date when inflation is going to be listed below 10%. The fact that we state that there is inflation indicates that the rates are being worked on.”