BEVERLY HILLS, October 10, (THEWILL) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted that Nigeria’s economy will grow faster than South Africa’s in 2017.
This is a reverse from the fund’s earlier projection in July that South Africa’s economy will grow by 1% in 2017 while Nigeria will experience a 0.8% economic expansion.
This was revealed by Maurice Obstfeld, IMF’s chief economist,on Tuesdayduring the unveiling of the World Economic Outlook report at the organisation’s headquarters in Washington.
While Nigeria’s projected growth remains at 0.8%, South Africa’s contracted to 0.7% due to rising political uncertainty which has reduced consumer and business confidence in the country.
“Nigeria is expected to emerge from the 2016 recession caused by low oil prices and the disruption of oil production. Growth in 2017 is projected at 0.8% owing to recovering oil production and ongoing strength in the agricultural sector,” he stated.
“However, concerns about policy implementation, market segmentation in a foreign exchange market that remains dependent on central bank interventions (despite steps to liberalise the foreign exchange market) and banking system fragilities are expected to weigh on activities in the medium term.”
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