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These 3 threats can stop Nigeria's economy from growing in 2018, according to the IMF
IMF projected Nigeria’s economy to accelerate to 2.1% in 20183 up from the 0.8% in 2017, falls far below the estimate for sub-Saharan Africa at 3.4%
In its April 2018 publication of the World Economic Outlook, the IMF revealed that advanced economies as a group will continue to expand above their potential growth rates this year and next before decelerating, while growth in emerging market and developing economies will rise before levelling off.
The IMF also projected Nigeria’s economy to accelerate to 2.1% in 2018, up from the 0.8% in 2017, which falls far below the estimate for sub-Saharan Africa at 3.4%, but it is stronger by 0.2% estimated by the global financial group in its October 2017 WEO forecast.
The International Lender identified global debt levels, geopolitical risks, and trade tensions as threats that may hinder growth projections of emerging and developing economies like Nigeria. The Lender, however, advised policy makers to seize current economic opportunities to bolster growth, make it more durable, and equip their governments better to counter the next downturn.
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Maurice Obstfled, Chief Economist and Director of Research, IMF, said emerging and developing economies like Nigeria, present a diverse picture, and among those that are not commodity exporters, some can expect longer-term growth rates comparable to pre-crisis rates.
“Many commodity exporters will not be so lucky, however, despite some improvement in the outlook for commodity prices. Those countries will need to diversify their economies to boost future growth and resilience.”
The IMF attributed Nigeria’s growth projection to improved revenue and foreign exchange policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
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"Looking at the largest economies, our 2018 growth projections, compared with our earlier October 2017 projections, are 2.4 percent for the euro area (up by 0.5 percentage point), 1.2 percent for Japan (up by 0.5 percentage point), 6.6 percent for China (up by 0.1 percentage point), and 2.9 percent for the United States (up by 0.6 percentage point). U.S. growth will be boosted in part by a largely temporary fiscal stimulus, which explains over one-third of our upgrade over last October for 2018 global growth," the international lender said in its latest World Economic Outlook published in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, April 17, 2018.
On the global scene, the International lender identified;
1. Facing ageing populations;
2. Falling rates of labour force participation'
3. Low productivity growth as possible threats to the current booming growth of advanced economies.
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