The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has upgraded its forecast for Nigeria’s economic growth in 2022 and 2021 to 2.7 percent and 2.6 percent respectively, citing recovery in non-oil sectors and rising price of crude oil.
In April, the IMF projected that Nigeria’s economy will grow by 2.3 percent and 2.5 percent in 2022 and 2021.
The latest forecast was contained in the IMF’s “Regional Economic Outlook for October 2021” released Thursday at the sidelines of the ongoing Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington.
The 2.7 percent growth projected by the IMF for Nigeria in 2022 represents 1.5 percentage points below the 4.2 percent growth projected for 2022 by the Federal Government in its 2022 to 2024 Medium Term Fiscal Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTFF/FSP).
The IMF also projected that the Sub-Saharan economy will grow by 3.8 percent in 2022 and by 3.7 percent this year.
The IMF said: “Nigeria’s economy will grow by 2.6 percent in 2021, driven by recovery in non-oil sectors and higher oil prices, even though oil production is expected to remain below pre-COVID-19 levels.
“Growth will inch up slightly to 2.7 percent in 2022 and remain at this level over the medium term, allowing GDP per capita to stabilize at current levels, notwithstanding long-standing structural problems and elevated uncertainties,” the report said.
