The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reduced Nigeria’s GDP growth forecast for 2023 by 0.3 percentage point to 2.9 percent due to lower oil and gas production.
This was revealed by the IMF in its latest World Economic Outlook (for October), titled ‘Navigating Global Divergences,’ which was released on Tuesday.
BizWatch Nigeria recalls that in July, the lender predicted that Nigeria’s economy would increase by 3.2% in 2023. The country’s progress, it anticipated, would be hampered by security concerns in the oil sector.
The Washington-based lender stated, “Growth in Nigeria is projected to decline from 3.3 percent in 2022 to 2.9 percent in 2023 and 3.1 percent in 2024, with negative effects of high inflation on consumption taking hold.
“The forecast for 2023 is revised downward by 0.3 percentage point, reflecting weaker oil and gas production than expected, partially as a result of maintenance work.”
The IMF forecasts that growth in Sub-Saharan Africa will fall to 3.3% in 2023 due to severe weather shocks, the global downturn, and internal supply constraints.
However, it predicted that this growth will accelerate up by 2024 to 4.0 percent, which is still lower than the region’s historical average of 4.8 percent.
Overall, global economic growth is expected to drop from 3.5 percent in 2022 to 3.0 percent in 2023 and 2.9 percent in 2024, significantly below the historical (2000-19) average of 3.8 percent, according to the IMF.
It added, “Advanced economies are expected to slow from 2.6 per cent in 2022 to 1.5 per cent in 2023 and 1.4 per cent in 2024 as policy tightening starts to bite.
“Emerging market and developing economies are projected to have a modest decline in growth from 4.1 per cent in 2022 to 4.0 per cent in both 2023 and 2024.”
