The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has downgraded its forecast for Nigeria’s economic growth in 2024 to 3.1%, citing weaker growth recorded in the first quarter of the year.
The revised forecast was published in the IMF’s July 2024 World Economic Outlook, stating that it is 0.2 percentage points below the earlier projection of 3.3%.
This adjustment follows the lower-than-expected Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth recorded in Q1 2024.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicated that Nigeria’s GDP growth declined to 2.98% in Q1 2024 from 3.46% in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Despite this downgrade, the IMF has maintained its 3.0% growth forecast for Nigeria’s economy in 2025.
The IMF also downgraded its forecast for Sub-Saharan Africa’s economic growth in 2024 to 3.7%, down from the 3.8% forecast in April’s World Economic Outlook. However, it increased the region’s growth forecast for 2025 to 4.1% from 4.0%.
“The forecast for growth in sub-Saharan Africa is revised downward, mainly as a result of a 0.2 percentage point downward revision to the growth outlook in Nigeria amid weaker than expected activity in the first quarter of this year,” the IMF stated.
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