Nigeria’s GDP growth rate for Q1 2021
Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product grew by 0.51% (year-on-year) in real terms in the first quarter of 2021. This is slower than the 1.87% growth recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2020 but higher than 0.11% recorded in the previous quarter (Q4 2020).
This is contained in the Nigerian Gross Domestic Product report, recently released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
According to the report, aggregate GDP stood at N40.01 trillion in nominal terms as against N35.65 trillion recorded in Q1 2020, while real GDP stood at N16.83 trillion in the review quarter.
Cryptocurrencies sell-offs continues
It is quite hard to argue with commentaries that state we are in a bear market. The massive selloffs of cryptocurrencies have continued with bitcoin trading at $35,000 and Ethereum trading slightly above $2,000. The total market capitalization of cryptocurrency assets stands at about $1.4 trillion and has declined by about 10%.
The cryptocurrency market has been hit by a triple whammy of inflation concerns in the US, tighter regulation from China and power usage for bitcoin mining. These concerns by investors have triggered the shedding of an asset class that was once over $2 trillion in market cap.
Despite these headwinds, the CEO of Ark investments, Cathie Wood still believes Bitcoin will go as high as $500,000.
RSA transfer a trend in the right direction?
The number of RSA contributors that switched pension administrators in Nigeria hit 12,681 in the first quarter of 2021 as against 2,799 recorded in the previous quarter (Q4 2020). This is according to the quarterly RSAs transfer summary, released by the National Pension Commission.
This represents a 353.1% increase compared to the previous quarter, which can be attributed to the dissatisfaction of pension contributors with the management of their contributions.
PENCOM opened the transfer window for contributors to be able to move freely from one PFA to another, at least once a year. Immediately it was opened, 2,799 RSA holders applied for transfers.
Brent crude hit $70 and drops down again
Brent hit $70 last Tuesday and closed on Friday at $66. Oil prices fell last week after Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, said the United States was ready to lift sanctions on his country’s oil, banking and shipping sectors. It remains to be seen how the addition of over 2 million bpd will affect the market, however, with global vaccinations speeding up and the resumption of economic activities, energy demand is expected to rise.
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