The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has retained Nigeria’s 3.2 percent economic growth projection for 2023 in its recent world economic outlook update.
IMF improved the country’s 2024 economic growth projection for 2024 to 3.0 percent from the 2.9 percent it stated in its January update.
It said global economic growth is expected to fall from 3.4 percent in 2022 to 2.8 percent in 2023.
“The baseline forecast is for growth to fall from 3.4 percent in 2022 to 2.8 percent in 2023, before settling at 3.0 percent in 2024. Advanced economies are expected to see an especially pronounced growth slowdown, from 2.7 percent in 2022 to 1.3 percent in 2023. In a plausible alternative scenario with further financial sector stress, global growth declines to about 2.5 percent in 2023 with advanced economic growth falling below 1 percent.
“Global headline inflation in the baseline is set to fall from 8.7 percent in 2022 to 7.0 percent in 2023 on the back of lower commodity prices but underlying (core) inflation is likely to decline more slowly. Inflation’s return to target is unlikely before 2025 in most cases,” IMF said.
It noted that the other major forces that shaped the world economy in 2022 are likely to influence 2023 with debt levels remaining high and limiting the ability of fiscal policymakers to respond to new challenges.
It added that the current uncertainty in the financial sector poses risk to the global economy.
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