World Bank projects 2.6% growth for Nigeria in 2017

The IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings ended in Washington on Sunday with the World Bank’s leadership giving indications that Nigeria’s economic woes were about to end.

In the Economic Growth Analysis conducted by the World Bank, termed Africa’s Pulse, which encapsulated a bi-annual development in countries of Africa, especially Nigeria, it says the country is “showing signs of quick recovery” as its growth rate is projected at 2.6 per cent for 2017.

But the data runs contrary to the position of the World Bank’s sister institution, the IMF, which has insisted that Nigeria’s economic recovery would only be feasible, if it further carried out more reforms, including devaluation of its currency, the naira, with government selling off its interest in key national assets of which NLNG tops the list.

The World Bank, however, noted that the recovery remained weak, with growth expected to rise only slightly above population growth, noting that more efforts should be made to boost employment and reduce poverty.

The growth analysis, reads in part: “Nigeria, South Africa, and Angola, the continent’s largest economies, are seeing a rebound from the sharp slowdown in 2016, but the recovery has been slow due to insufficient adjustment to low commodity prices and policy uncertainty.

“Furthermore, several oil exporters in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community are facing economic difficulties.”

It also stated that other countries in the sub region, including Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Rwanda, Senegal, and Tanzania, have shown some policy initiatives that have brought about stability in the growth of their respective economies.

Gsent Talks.....Taking You Further