The frontier economy has been weighed down by the plunge in world crude oil prices, which affect around 70% of the national income.
Gross domestic product shrunk in the first quarter for the first time since 2004 as manufacturers struggled to purchase imports of raw materials and equipment.
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Despite the central bank relief, Emefiele warned that the nation is now heading into an “imminent” recession, Bloomberg reported. The Central Bank Governor attributed his pessimistic outlook to the delayed 2016 budget after the withdrawal of an earlier version to make corrections in response to the slump in crude oil prices and internal squabbling over ministry allocations.
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