The federal government has lamented the impact of the recent downgrade of
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs.
Ahmed made these remarks on same day the
In quick succession in November,
Fitch Ratings also downgraded
Briefing the visiting
According to her, the cost of quantitative easing, high inflation and high interest rates, among others, across the world were global challenges, regretting that despite the fact that this reality, the rating agencies went ahead to downgrade
"We are coping with a lot and we are doing the best we can under very difficult circumstances. But to have to cope with credit rating agencies working as if nothing has changed, not realising the kind of shocks we are facing, and assessing us and downgrading us for factors external to us even when we are putting our best efforts.
"We think it is a situation we realise we can't change. In this ministry, we engage every credit rating agencies and provide everything they ask for.
"But it seems as if it is not enough. They have to be some support that we need to get. They themselves need to do things differently.
"You cannot be making the same kind of assessments you were making some time ago. Things are different. Things are not going. We have seen some of our sister countries really hurt.
"This year only, we have had
The minister called for the support of the
She thanked
She said: "We have a national census plan. the UNFP has embed a special adviser that is working with the population commission. A proclamation has been done been done by President that census will be carried out in April, after the elections.
"We are asking the
Responding, the
Noting that subsidy was hugely important to the economy, she however advised that it should be handled with care, "targeting effectively what one believes is important for people to understand that those perceived gains from subsidy are actually going to translate into their lives towards reducing poverty ensuring our women and youths have jobs."
Meanwhile,
The export component of trade dropped to N5.93 trillion, representing 19.89 per cent decline over the preceding quarter and accounted for 51.16 per cent of total trade in the review period.
According to the Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics for Q3 2022, which was posted on its website, total imports, however, increased by 4.22 per cent to N5.66 trillion in Q3.
According to the statistical agency, imports accounted for 48.84 per cent of total trade. As a result, the balance of trade in the period under review stood at N269.34 billion.
It also showed that exports trade was dominated by crude oil exports valued at N4.66 trillion, representing 78.51 per cent of total exports while non-crude oil exports stood at N1.28 trillion or 21.49 per cent of total exports.
Non-oil products contributed N438.00 billion representing 7.38 per cent of total exports, the NBS stated.
Crude oil exports in Q3 however, decrease by 21.15 per cent compared to Q2 while other oil products exports was N837.33 billion, representing a marginal increase of 1.68 per cent compared to N823.48 billion in Q2.
In monetary terms,
The commodity with the largest export values in the period under review was 'petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, crude' with N4.65 trillion, representing 78.51 per cent, followed by natural gas, liquefied with N757.36 billion accounting for 12.76 per cent, and urea, whether or not in aqueous solution N133.17 billion or 2.24 per cent of total exports.
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