London-based organisation, World Economics has declared that Nigeria’s economy is out of recession, but that “conditions remain difficult for businesses”.

World Economics, which is dedicated to producing financial analysis, insight and data on world economy, stated on its website on Tuesday that “April Sales Managers’ Index (SMI) data suggests that the Nigerian economy is continuing to grow out of the recession which saw 10 months of consecutive contraction in 2016.

“The Market Growth Index grew to 58.5 in April as the monthly Sales Growth Index ticked up to 56.7, its highest value since 2015 and representative of rapid growth. Price inflation for April, which is tracked by the Prices Charged Index, remained high at 58.7 – indicative of high levels of inflation – however, a slowing trend has developed for the past 9 months.

“Nigeria’s economy receded at the end of Q2 in 2016 after falling oil prices ate deep into the country’s earnings and caused the naira to weaken thereby causing inflation to spiral upward. Spates of attacks on oil installations in the Niger Delta by militants, who were protesting for better deals from the government, almost crippled oil production.

“But the government’s recent engagements in the oil-rich region, spearheaded by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, has seen attacks on oil facilities petered out, at least, for now.”

Last Thursday, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said the inflation rate dropped by 0.5% in March to close at 17.26%. It was the second decline in two months.