Nigeria heading into recession, IMF says
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, right, shakes hands with Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, left, after their meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Nigeria, January 5. Nigeria is struggling to deal with a number of economic issues, including a fall in oil prices and the impact of Boko Haram’s insurgency. PHOTO: IMF
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) slashed its growth forecast for the Nigerian economy this year on Tuesday, saying a combination of plunging oil revenues and weakened investor confidence will push it into recession.
The IMF said it expects Africa’s largest economy to contract by 1.8 percent this year, after having forecast in April a 2.3 percent expansion.
Nigeria’s stall, and sluggish activity in the number two economy, South Africa, is expected to pull down economic growth across sub-Saharan Africa, the IMF said, forecasting a “dramatic implication.”
“In 2016, regional output growth will fall short of population growth, implying declining per capita incomes,” it said.
Nigeria’s economy has been battered hard by the plunge in oil prices, the main source of the country’s income, as well as prices of other key commodities.
In addition, rebels in the southern oil region have forced crude production cutbacks, and internal unrest, especially attacks by the Boko Haram group in the north, has also hurt the economy.
Inflation hit an 11-year high of 16.5 percent in June as prices of food and energy jumped after the government freed up the naira currency in April, allowing it to plummet against the US dollar.
Also weighing on output have been electricity shortages due to rebels’ sabotage of the gas pipelines that fire power plants.
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7 Comments
THIS ECONOMY DON PASS BUHARI ECONOMIC TEAM DUKA, DUKA
The worst team ever assembled, when you have the best of Hausa and Yoruba combined, what you end up is “Recession.” Monkey go to the moon remains a monkey. Buhari is a worthless leader. Nigeria is finally drowning in the LAGOON.
MAKE YOU POINT WITHOUT INSULTING OTHERS, LOOKS LIKE YOU ARE MENTALLY LAZY?!!!
Thanks to IMF and clueless government of Nigeria. A country with God bless natural resources, land, air, water and the human capacity, yet it is dirt poor due to bad policies and poor leadership.
Nigeria is going through a tumultuous and dangerous time. Now, this government is not in anyway prepared to help Nigeria and Nigerians. What the government is doing is like when somebody’s house is under a serious inferno, the person will be engaged in pursing the rats that are trying to escape from the fire. We have serious problems like the economy that is sliding into recession, high inflation, lack of power, lack of security of life and property, poverty, hardship, and suffering, hatred, bitterness and rancor. These are the area they should concentrate more, if they are serious to govern.
Rather than assemble the best brains to tackle what is clearly a state of economic emergency, Buhari would rather reward loyalty over competence. Take a look at the finance minister for starters, then you will know we are in deep trouble.
That’s what happens when a gullible people prefers to remove their best brains from the system by voting in propaganda-driven cabals simply because they want their tribes in control. Its just Deja-vu everytime … the civil war just repeated itself but in our polls. This time around, its the entire country that will suffer it if they don’t rise up in favour of true federalism.
We will review and take appropriate action.