Rebased GDP knowledge: 2019 was chosen as base yr for its ‘relative financial stability’

The Nationwide Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has introduced the rebasing of Nigeria’s Gross Home Product (GDP) knowledge, with 2019 chosen as the brand new base yr.

This resolution, based on the NBS, was pushed by the yr’s standing as a interval of “relative financial stability” in comparison with different current years, which had been marked by vital financial shocks.

This was disclosed on Thursday throughout a sensitisation workshop on GDP and the Client Worth Index (CPI) rebasing, organized by the Nigerian Financial Summit Group and the NBS in Lagos.

Throughout his presentation, Moses Waniko, the Technical Assistant to the Statistician Basic additionally stated “Some main surveys that served as inputs into the rebasing coated this era. 2020, 2021 and 2022 had been prevented as base years attributable to financial instabilities – this follows IMF pointers.”

The company famous additional that 2019 was chosen as a result of “different sector-specific administrative knowledge for this era had been collected.”

He famous additional that the newly rebased Gross Home Product (GDP) figures can be unveiled by the top of January.

In October 2024, the NBS revealed its plans to rebase each the GDP and CPI to replicate present financial realities and account for structural modifications within the financial system.

Waniko emphasised that the information assortment course of is nearing completion. Nonetheless, the outcomes will nonetheless have to endure validation earlier than the official launch on the finish of the month.

Waniko said, “We’re presently concluding the rebasing. We have to validate the outcomes, after which we have now to do a launch; we’re wanting on the finish of January to do this launch, to disseminate the numbers, after which, often, there are post-rebasing actions that may occur.”

The Rebased GDP and the Nigerian financial system

Waniko famous a number of key advantages the rebased GDP would have on the nationwide financial system. He emphasised that the GDP rebasing ought to be considered not solely by way of mixture numbers but in addition by way of their distribution, weights, and contributions throughout completely different sectors.

He added, “It’s good to have a look at the rebasing from completely different angles, not simply the combination numbers, however to have a look at what these numbers are supposed to inform us, by way of the distribution, the combination numbers, by way of their weights, contributions and the remainder.

“Past that, there are different implications for the nationwide financial system, which we have now tried to place on this slide. The primary is rebasing will present or permit for an Financial and Growth Plan.

“The second is that the rebasing will actually assist to supply an excellent trajectory for the financial system. So past this, it’s vital to additionally state that after the rebasing, there are specific issues that we anticipate that may change, similar to modifications within the dimension of the construction of the financial system.

“We anticipate that the scale of the financial system can be greater.”

Waniko famous additional, “The tax-to-GDP ratio is one thing that individuals might need to see what the numbers would seem like. Debt to GDP ratio of 18.5 p.c as of September 2019 may additionally scale back with the larger dimension of the GDP, after which per-capita earnings will enhance after the rebasing.”