Nigeria’s economic growth slowed to 2.35 percent in the second quarter of 2015 from 6.54 percent a year earlier as a result of lower oil prices, the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

The NBS said oil production was 2.05 million barrels per day in the second quarter of the year, lower than 2.21 million barrels recorded in second quarter of last year

With oil accounting for more than 90 percent of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings and about 70 percent of government revenues, the fall in crude prices and output has hurt Nigeria’s finances and its naira currency, with foreign investors pulling out of its stock and bond markets.

The naira has fallen around 15 percent over the last year, with devaluations in November and February, despite the central bank spending billions of dollars to prop up the currency.

The weakening currency has fuelled inflation, which at 9.2 percent is at its highest annual rate since February 2013 and above the central bank’s target range.

On Tuesday, figures showed the continent’s second biggest economy, South Africa, shrank for the first time in over a year, raising the risk that labour disputes and slowing Chinese demand for commodities could push it towards recession.