Governor Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State has emphasized his administration’s commitment to prioritizing the production of statistics and the generation of reliable data.
This, the Governor stressed, is essential for effective planning and efficient management of the state’s economy.
Ekiti News reports that the Governor provided this assurance in Ado-Ekiti during the launch of the computation of the State Gross Domestic Product (SGDP) for the period 2018-2022.
Governor Oyebanji while speaking through the State Head of Service, Engr. Sunday Komolafe, noted that computation of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
would aid planning and formulation of policies that will ultimately bring about all round development of the State.
He stressed that “GDP is important because it gives information about the size of the economy and how an economy is
performing. The growth rate of real GDP is often used as an indicator of the general health of the economy”.
The governor reiterated his commitment to the provision of quality data that are accurate, complete, valid, consistent, unique, timely and fit for purpose that investors can leverage upon to take critical decisions, adding that GDP is an important measurement for economists and
investors because it tracks changes in the size of the entire economy and provides insights into the factors driving economic growth or holding it back.
Stressing that the exercise would assist in assigning priorities to
the sectors of the economy where intervention by the government are
needed, adding that the exercise would enable the government to
ascertain not only the total size of the economy but also identify the
contribution of each sector of the economy.
“The GDP is one of the essential indicators that will help us to clearly see the picture of where we are and enable us to do peer-review with the other States in the federation. It is often said that what cannot be measured cannot be successfully managed, hence we are placing a high premium on the production of statistics for use in the State” he said.
While appreciating the efforts and cooperation of the National Bureau
of Statistics ( NBS) and the private sector operators, the Governor maintained that the present administration was poised to ensure an even and all round development of the State without any political
sentiment or prejudice, saying the government will continue to work on
improving the investment environment in the State through but not limited to tax incentives, institutionalization of business enabling legal framework and policies, and provision of requisite infrastructure.
In his welcome address, the State Commissioner for Budget, Economic
Planning and Performance Management, Mr. Niyi Adebayo noted that the
exercise was timely as there is the need to measure the size of the economy, identify the major drivers and determine the areas the government should focus for additional growth and development.
He said the Gross Domestic Product of a State was a very important economic indicator that will guide the policy makers and planners to come up with appropriate initiatives that will have a positive impact on the citizens’ well-being.
Adebayo explained that the exercise will be driven by the State Bureau of Statistics in collaboration with the National Bureau of Statistics to have a comprehensive coverage adopting a hybrid approach comprising both Top- down and bottom- up methods so that the contributions of the establishment and institutions in the exclusive list of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the State economy will be captured.