The Statistician General of the Federation, Mr Yemi Kale, on Monday stressed that there was need to rebase the nation’s GDP so as to pave way for better policy making by the government and other stakeholders.
Mr Kale who was a guest on Channels Television’s business programme, Business Morning, said the rebasing was all about getting the data right for better economic planning.
According to him, the rebasing has not changed anything, but is all about measuring more accurately to give policy makers tools for policy making.
Meanwhile, the CEO, Financial Derivatives Limited, Mr Bismarck Rewane who was also a guest on the programme, stressed the need for the policy makers to use the figures to better the lives of the citizens.
He maintained that income inequality had remained a major concern in Nigeria while the seemingly increasing income is accruing to a few people.
The rebasing almost doubled Nigeria’s gross domestic product to more than $500 billion, that’s about 80.22 trillion Naira up from the 42.3 trillion Naira estimated before the rebasing.
The new figure shrank Nigeria’s debt-to-GDP ratio to 11 per cent for 2013, against 19 per cent in 2012. However GDP per capita income is put at $2,688.
