The current recession could extend till 2023. The World Bank adds one more condition for the $1.5 billion loans, and COVID claims 3,000 souls a day in the US. Elsewhere, assailants kill 16 in Kano.
2023
Brace for impact, World Bank says, as it intimates that Nigeria’s recession could last for another three years. The agency said this on Monday in her latest Nigeria Development Update (NDU) titled “Rising to the Challenge: Nigeria’s COVID response”. Again, the report states that unless Nigeria implements sustainable measures, there would be a reversal of years of economic growth; and we could see people living in poverty rise from 15 to 20 million in just two years.
As a solution, the report mentioned five focus areas. First, to boost investor confidence, Nigeria has to improve its macroeconomic management. Also important are mobilising and safeguarding revenues, and containing the spread of COVID-19 until the cure is available. The report also advised redeploying public spending to things that matter; providing help for poor and vulnerable communities.
$1.5 Billion
Yesterday, World Bank Country Director, Shubham Chaudhuri, stated that the caveat for Nigeria receiving a loan was to strengthen her naira. Earlier, the agency had agreed to consider Nigeria’s loan request in July 2020.
The agency’s concern comes from the Nigerian naira hitting 500 per dollar last month in the black market and the scarcity of dollars. Also, the devaluation of the official naira rate by the Central bank by 15% weakened the foreign exchange in March and November. The director added that a more stable exchange rate could help bridge the gap between the official rate and the parallel market. This is the second time the loan has been delayed.
3,000 Deaths
Within 24 hours, the United States has recorded over 3,000 COVID-19 related deaths. Globally this is the highest number of fatalities ever recorded. With this record, the US broke its previous record of 2,804 deaths confirmed last week. Today there were 221,276 new cases confirmed making the total confirmed cases about 15.4 million. The total number of deaths in the US since the pandemic broke out stands at 289,970.
This revelation puts the States atop the COVID-19 fatalities list. The increase in fatalities happened two weeks after the Thanksgiving holiday. The US is currently in desperate need of a vaccine. And while there are two vaccines from the United Kingdom and a US biotech firm, they are not mainstream yet.
16 Killed
In other news, Vanguard reports 16 dead in Kano from what might be a robbery gone wrong. The victims were all from Dambatta Local Government Area in the State. And according to a source, shooters shot up the tyres of the vehicle taking the deceased to Abuja on Tuesday; this led to a fatal accident with no survivors.
In a statement released by the Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, he condemned the attack and sympathised with the families of the victims. However, the report failed to mention what the government was doing to catch these bandits.