IMF projects challenging economic future for Nigeria: summary

What we know

• The International Monetary Fund has projected a challenging economic growth outlook for Nigeria.
• This comes after the global monetary body predicted a 3.3% growth projection for the West African country’s economy in 2024 compared to 2.9% last year.
• The country’s food price inflation reached 40% in March, raising concerns about food security. Fuel subsidies are also projected to reach 3% of the GDP because of differences between pump prices and dollar rates.
• The IMF’s predictions follow positive projections for Nigeria’s economy by global rating agencies including Fitch which revised Nigeria’s outlook from stable to positive.
• The World Bank has meanwhile recommended a fundamental approach to rejuvenating the economy by producing to mitigate the risks of a challenging economic outlook.

What they said

IMF mission chief for Nigeria Axel Schimmelpfenning said "If Nigeria grows at 3.3% that is just above the population dynamics, which is a big challenge." "The reforms are focused on how to raise that growth so that Nigerians can see real impacts on their living standards. We think a lot has happened. We also have to recognise that the problems built up over many years were quite severe. We can't expect that everything is going to be resolved overnight," he was quoted by Business Insider Africa as saying.