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  • IMF hinges Nigeria’s 3.1% economic growth on reforms

    IMF hinges Nigeria’s 3.1% economic growth on reforms

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF), says achieving Nigeria’s projected 3.1 per cent economic growth outlook for 2024 is dependent on implementation of stronger reforms.

    IMF Resident Representative, Dr Christian Ebeke, said this at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) International Business Conference and Expo 2024 with the theme: “Invest Nigeria”, in Lagos, yesterday.

    Ebeke said that for the country to grow slightly from the 2.9 per cent rate of 2023, further reforms on governance and business regulations were needed. He said that such reforms would transform its growth momentum into something more durable.

    He, however, said that the country had recorded progress in its credit market, as well as financial and external sectors.

     “Insecurity, tight financial conditions, multiple taxes, insufficient power and corruption are foremost constraints identified by businesses.

     “What comforts the IMF is that these issues can be addressed by the Nigerian government, and they are currently being addressed through reforms by the Federal Government.

     “And we are encouraged by the fact that these issues can be reversed,” he said.

    He said that Nigeria should close the structural gaps like India,  by reducing governance and business regulation bottlenecks by 25 per cent.

    According to him,  if that  is  done,  the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) output can be lifted by 6.4 per cent in the next three years.

    The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, said  Nigeria’s strategic location and abundant resources presented vast investment opportunities, particularly in the marine and blue economy sector.

    Oyetola said that in spite of existing challenges, the government was committed to creating an enabling environment to foster economic growth to attract significant investments.

    He highlighted some of the government’s incentives designed to drive investment in the marine and blue economy sector to include tax exemptions for businesses operating in free trade zones, and infrastructural support.

    He added that the government had provided new export opportunities for the marine sector under the Guided Trade Initiative (GTI) of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) among others.

     “Our commitment to the marine and blue economy is demonstrated through ongoing port rehabilitation and modernisation projects.

     “To boost investment, the Nigerian government has introduced a wide range of incentives, including tax reliefs, trade zone benefits, infrastructure development, and financial support.

    Read Also: Nigeria’s economy to hit $1.85trn by 2029, says IMF

     “I encourage the business community and investors to take advantage of such incentives to contribute to Nigeria’s economic development and be part of Africa’s promising future,” he said.

    Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos state, said that the state, being Africa’s economic hub, offered a conducive business environment, a strategic location, vast market, and  pool of energetic talents.

    Sanwo-Olu said that his administration had implemented and continued to implement policies and initiatives to attract investments, create opportunities, and drive growth.

    He said that one key area of focus for the state was infrastructure development.

    He said that the state  was upgrading and expanding transportation and logistics networks, telecommunications, healthcare, education and digital ecosystem infrastructure.

    According to him,   the projected growth will not happen without a solid foundation of infrastructure that is able to keep ahead of our rapidly-growing population.

     “As one of Africa’s startup capitals, we are especially keen to invest in digital infrastructure to power the innovative ideas of our people.

     “Agriculture and food security are also priorities, in line with a national focus on these areas.

     “Lagos may be the state with the smallest landmass in Nigeria.

     “But I can boldly say that our land disadvantage is more than offset by the boldness with which we are embracing the boundless opportunities in processing, value-addition and logistics.

     “This is why we are building Africa’s largest food logistics hub, here in Lagos,” he said.

    The governor said that when completed, the hub would be able to hold enough food to supply Lagos for 90 days in the event of shortages.

    He said that it would serve millions of farmers, traders and other players in the agricultural value chain.

     “In addition, we are developing our tourism and entertainment sector with various investments in hospitality, leisure, and cultural infrastructure, to showcase the best of Lagos and Nigeria.

     “We will continue to roll out incentives for investors.

     “From tax breaks and waivers, to streamline regulatory processes, and a judicial system that is competent, efficient and guarantees the sanctity of contracts and property rights,” he said.

    Mr Gabriel Idahosa, President, LCCI, said that the conference was pivotal  to Nigeria’s journey towards stabilising the economy and driving sustainable economic growth and development.

    Idahosa said that the event was a unique opportunity to explore new avenues for investment, foster innovative partnerships, and chart a course toward a more prosperous future for Nigeria and the African continent.

    He said that Nigeria, blessed with vast resources and an entrepreneurial spirit, was home to the largest economy in Africa, a burgeoning middle class, and a youthful population eager to contribute to the global economy.

     “To fully harness the nation’s potentials, there must be an enabling environment to support business growth, encourage innovation, and ensure that local and international investors remain confident of their investments.

     “We have noticed the government’s commitment to making Nigeria a preferred destination for global investors.

     “We are actively engaging with the government in implementing policies that promote ease of doing business, improve infrastructure, and enhance security, ” he said.

     “We also see the government embarking on bold reforms in various sectors, including agriculture, energy, foreign exchange markets, and technology, to further diversify our economy and reduce our reliance on oil.

     “We urge the government to create a policy and regulatory environment to attract foreign investments into building factories in Nigeria to manufacture the many products we import today,” he said.

    Meanwhile, Ambassadors to countries such as Belgium, Germany, Israel, Bulgaria, India, Ireland, Kenya and Bangladesh, affirmed their commitments to deepening partnerships with Nigeria across several sectors of its economy in mutually beneficial ways.

  • IMF lists impact of AI on businesses, economies

    IMF lists impact of AI on businesses, economies

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has listed some of the extraordinary ways Generative Artificial Intelligence could benefit our societies, including helping people to live healthier lives and accelerating scientific breakthroughs.

    In a report entitled:  “Crisis Amplifier? How to Prevent AI from Worsening the Next Economic Downturn” IMF First Deputy Managing Director, Gita Gopinath said many experts also believe the technology could provide significant economic benefits, for example by providing a serious boost to productivity.

     This could help lift the global economy at a time when the growth outlook for the medium term is the weakest in decades.

    This said, she added that many also agree that AI’s promise comes with considerable uncertainty and significant risks. To date, most warnings have focused on security, privacy, misinformation, and ethical concerns.

    Read Also: President condoles with Jimi Agbaje over son’s death

    “Taking an economic perspective, I would like to highlight a different sort of AI-related risk, one that has received much less attention. That is the risk that AI could exacerbate economic crises. The world economy will see another downturn—that much is certain. Today I will describe how the widespread use of AI could turn an ordinary downturn into a deep and prolonged economic crisis by causing large-scale disruptions in labor markets, in financial markets, and in supply chains.

    I will also discuss what policy actions—taken now—can help mitigate some of these downside risks,” she said.

    Gopinath described how AI could worsen the next downturn, starting with labor markets. The experience with previous waves of automation offers a warning here.

    “ During good times, firms are often flush with profits. They can afford to invest in automation and hold on to workers, even if the value-added of those workers declines. However, in a downturn, these firms simply let go of workers to cut costs. Therefore, the extent to which automation could replace humans only becomes fully visible during or immediately after a downturn,” she said.

    Also,  research showed that since the mid-1980s nearly 90 per cent of automation related job losses in the U.S. have occurred in the first year of recessions.

    “Take the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis. Rather than rehiring workers after the slump, many firms automated their operations—leading to the most severe “jobless recovery” ever seen in the US and Western Europe, driven almost entirely by the loss of routine jobs. This led to many disillusioned former workers leaving the labor market altogether,” she said.

     “In the next downturn, AI is likely to threaten a wider range of jobs than in past cycles, including higher-skilled cognitive jobs. About 30 per of jobs in advanced economies are at risk of being replaced by AI. That figure is 20 per cent for emerging markets and 18 per cent for low-income countries.

    In other words, the pool of potentially replaceable workers in future downturns will be bigger than anything we’ve seen before. The result could be unprecedented job losses.

    That could also lead to unprecedented numbers of long-term unemployed, because many of the displaced workers will lack the requisite skills in an economy where AI is increasingly prevalent.

    Such a sharp spike in unemployment would be a major shock to the financial system, as record numbers of unemployed workers could struggle to repay their debts. However, in this new AI-adapted reality, that would be only part of the disruption to the financial system.

    “The financial services industry has relied heavily on algorithmic trading since before the recent AI boom. The industry is now rapidly replacing older models with vastly more complex ones that can learn on their own. The inner workings of such models can be difficult even for experts to understand. AI is also growing briskly in client-facing investment businesses, as assets managed by automated robo-advisers, for example, are projected to grow to $2.3 trillion in 2028,” he said.

     “Generative AI could also make a downturn much worse through its impact on global supply chains. The user-friendly features of newer AI models could encourage widespread adoption by companies who would then come to rely on AI predictions for their production decisions. Here again, as in financial markets, in normal times this could bestow numerous benefits, including helping to raise productivity. But in a future downturn, AI algorithms trained on stale information could trigger a series of forecasting errors, creating more rapid swings in production and inventories. This could cause crippling delays and shortages of critical supplies across the global economy,” she said.

  • IMF: Tough time ahead for borrowers despite disinflation

    IMF: Tough time ahead for borrowers despite disinflation

    Borrowers in both private and public sectors are in for tougher times, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted.

    The IMF hinged its forecast on the significant rise in inflation rate.

    In a financial sector stability report released at the weekend, entitled: “Central banks must remain vigilant along the last line of disinflation”- IMF Director in charge of Monetary and Capital Markets Department, Adrian Tobias, said although the fight against inflation is entering its “last mile” with that central banks expected to ease monetary policy in the coming months, but borrowers will still have very tough time ahead.

    According to a Debt Management Office (DMO) data, Nigeria’s total public debt stock stood at N97.3 trillion ($108.2 billion) as at December 31, 2023 while inflation rate stood at 33.2 per cent in March.

    Read Also: Shettima departs for US to attend 2024 US-Africa Business Summit

    For private sector borrowers, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) data showed that loans to private sector dropped to N71.23 trillion in March while Monetary policy Committee raised benchmark interest rate by 200 basis points to 24.75 per cent in March.

    Tobias stated that emerging markets debt issuers already face refinancing rates higher than interest rates on outstanding dollar-denominated sovereign bonds.

    “More vulnerable emerging markets – those with credit ratings of B and CCC or below – face the largest increase in rates,” Tobias said, adding that an inflation-driven tightening of global financial conditions would make refinancing even more difficult.

    S&P Global Ratings affirmed its ‘B-/B’ long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on Nigeria. They also affirmed our ‘ngBBB+/ngA-2’ long- and short-term Nigeria national scale ratings. The outlook is stable.

  • UK envoy: Nigeria should ignore IMF’s downgrading of status

    UK envoy: Nigeria should ignore IMF’s downgrading of status

    A former Director of the British Council in Nigeria, Mr David Roberts, has urged Nigeria to reject the recent report by the International Monetary Fund that projects that the country would drop from the first to the fourth largest economy in Africa.

    The Fund in its recent World Economic Outlook as reported by Bloomberg, estimated Nigeria’s gross domestic product at $253 billion behind South Africa, $373 billion; Egypt, $348 billion; and Algeria, $267 billion, adding that South Africa will remain the largest until 2027 when Egypt will overtake it.

    But in a statement,  the former British envoy said the country should rely more on data from its statistics rather than foreign agencies because the domestically gathered information is likely to be more accurate.

    According to him, Nigeria became the largest economy in Africa in 2014 on the strength of data gathered by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

    He said: “In 2014 when Nigeria became the largest economy in Africa, it was not because of the calculations of the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank. It was because Nigeria’s economy had been rebased and recalculated by the National Bureau of Statistics. Were it not for the NBS, the world would have continued to perceive Nigeria as Africa’s third-largest economy.”

    Saying he lived in Nigeria for a decade, he urged Nigerians to overcome their belief that Western Bretton Woods institutions are always right about them.

    “That is certainly not true,” Roberts said firmly, explaining, “If Nigeria became the biggest economy on the strength of the NBS data, why would Nigeria allow itself to be downgraded and labelled the fourth largest economy in Africa this year by the IMF? Does the IMF know Nigeria better than the NBS?”

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    He stressed that evidence abound that the Breton Wood institution’s projections were not always correct. “Did this same IMF not project a GDP growth of 3% for Nigeria, which Nigeria overshot by delivering a 3.4% quarterly growth?”

    He asked Nigerians to look back to the words of the late Head of State, General Murtala Muhammed, which he said on January 11, 1976, when that charismatic leader said, “Africa has come of age.”

    Asking Nigeria to assert itself, Robert argued that, “Nigeria is not some Pacific Island nation, dependent on aid. Several Western countries now depend on Nigeria for healthcare professionals and other service providers.”

    According to him, “Your economy is growing at 3.4%. Fuel importation is down by 57%. Local refining is up by 12% and will explode when the Dangote and Port Harcourt Refineries fully kick off. You are no longer spending $1.5 billion a month floating the Naira.”

    The former envoy said as long as these policies continued, Nigeria’s economy could move up, advising that Nigerians should rely more on the NBS statistics and projections, pointing out that the Goldenberg scandal and the IMF’s poor record at forecasting recessions prove that the NBS has more integrity on Nigeria’s economy than the IMF.

  • IMF insists Nigeria must remove fuel subsidies to benefit poor

    IMF insists Nigeria must remove fuel subsidies to benefit poor

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is insisting that the federal government of Nigeria must put an end to fuel subsidy.

    The reason for the insistence is because the subsidy as it were only favours the rich and impoverishes the poor.

    The IMF Director of the African Department, Abebe Selassie, made this known at the ongoing IMF/World Bank Spring Meeting in Washington DC.

    He stressed the need for Nigeria to abolish fuel subsidies, citing their adverse impact on the nation’s most vulnerable citizens. 

    Selassie argued that these subsidies predominantly benefit the wealthy, at the expense of the poor.

    “Subsidies are about resource allocation internally within Nigeria. So Nigerians, the people of Nigeria pay for these subsidies.” 

    He further explained, “And the reason why we counsel against such generalized subsidies is very simple. It tends to be highly regressive, meaning the benefits of such fuel subsidies tend to accrue to the rich and not to the poor people.”

    Selassie noted that by eliminating fuel subsidies, resources could be redirected towards improving conditions for poorer citizens rather than disproportionately benefiting the affluent. 

    He praised the Nigerian government’s efforts to reduce subsidies and advocated using these resources to provide essential social protections for the most vulnerable households.

    The IMF, according to Mr. Selassie, has been actively supporting African countries amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, having provided a substantial $58 billion in financial assistance. 

    He pledged continued support but cautioned against seeking commercial loans for refinancing due to current high interest rates, advising African nations to focus on domestic resource mobilization instead.

    Additionally, Selassie criticized discriminatory tax exemptions favoring specific companies, asserting that these practices hinder governments’ abilities to maximize tax revenues effectively.

    Read Also: IMF: Nigeria’s inflation to drop 18% in 2026

    Reflecting on Sub-Saharan Africa’s economic recovery, Selassie expressed optimism. “After four challenging years and multiple shocks, Sub-Saharan Africa’s economy appears to be on the mend,” he stated. Economic growth is projected to rise to 3.8 percent in 2024, with inflation decreasing and fiscal consolidation efforts showing promise.

    However, Selassie cautioned that challenges persist, including high borrowing costs and limited funding sources. He emphasized the importance of sustained reforms to enhance macroeconomic conditions and promote growth, urging international support for Africa’s development.

    “The IMF stands ready to support,” Selassie affirmed, “With the right policy choices today, I am confident that this moment could set the stage for this century to be the African century.”

  • IMF to central banks: be independent, shun political interference

    IMF to central banks: be independent, shun political interference

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has advised central banks across the world to maintain independence and shun political interference in decision making and personnel appointments.

    IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva in a report posted on the Fund’s website, said governments and central bankers must resist these pressures.

    She said strengthening central banks’ independence will protect the global economy and help tame inflation.

    “Independence is critical to winning the fight against inflation and achieving stable long-term economic growth, but policymakers risk facing pressure amid a wave of elections this year,” she said.

     According to her, central bankers now face many challenges to their independence.

    “Calls are growing for interest-rate cuts, even if premature, and are likely to intensify as half the world’s population votes this year. Risks of political interference in banks’ decision making and personnel appointments are rising. Governments and central bankers must resist these pressures,” she said.

    Continuing, she asked: “But why does this matter? Just consider what independent central banks have achieved in recent years. Central bankers steered effectively through the pandemic, unleashing aggressive monetary easing that helped prevent a global financial meltdown and speed recovery”.

    Read Also: IMF Executive Board shops for MD

    Georgieva said that as the focus shifted to restoring price stability, central bankers appropriately tightened monetary policy—albeit on different timelines. Their response, she stated,  helped to keep inflation expectations anchored in most countries even as price increases reached multi-decade highs. Emerging markets were leaders in tightening early and forcefully, enhancing their credibility.

    “These central bank actions have brought inflation down to much more manageable levels and reduced the risks of a hard landing. While the battle isn’t yet over, their success thus far has largely been because of the independence and credibility that many central banks have built up in recent decades,” she said.

    Georgieva said the recent success in bringing down inflation contrasts sharply to the economic instability that prevailed during the high inflation period of the 1970s. Back then, central banks didn’t have clear mandates to prioritize price stability, or clear laws protecting their autonomy. As a result, they were often pressured by politicians to lower interest rates when inflation was high.

    “Everyone was hurt by this high inflation, boom and bust era—especially people living on fixed incomes who saw their real incomes and savings eroded. Success in reducing inflation only came in the mid-1980s when central banks were given political support to aggressively fight inflation,” she said.

  • Nigeria accepted IMF loan out of greed, says DVC

    Nigeria accepted IMF loan out of greed, says DVC

    The Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Lagos State University of Education, Dr Nosiru Onibon, has disclosed Nigeria accepted the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan years back out of greed.

    Onibon stated that the IMF is one of the major challenges bedeviling the economic growth in the country.

    According to him, nations that borrow money from IMF have a greater rate of poverty, unemployment and inflation.

    The Associate Professor made these assertions during the Anwar-ul Islam Movement of Nigeria Ramadan lecture in Agege, Lagos.

    He said despite the palliatives doled out to people, poverty’s advance and onslaught against the populace is unceasing.

    Onibon said that government should institutionalised charity rather than giving out palliative.

    He said:  “From 1999 till today, the numbers of intervention programmes the politicians and philanthropists have embarked upon are enough to alleviate poverty, yet the number of poor people continues to increase.

    “In 2019 the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that four out of 10 Nigerians were poor meaning 40 percent of Nigerians are poor. In 2022, report says 6.3 out of 10 Nigerians were multi-dimensionally poor, meaning 63 percent of over 200 million Nigerians are poor. Today, the number of beggars is increasing, whereas the palliative is supposed to reduce poverty.”

    Read Also: IMF Executive Board shops for MD

     “When I was in Malaysia, the president of our university told us that he was in the cabinet of the government for about 17 years. We asked what the secret of Malaysia’s development and he said, firstly we don’t collect IMF loans. All the countries that collected IMF loans are crawling except the stubborn ones. The year they came to sell IMF to Nigeria, it is not as if we don’t have enough but we accepted it out of greed,” he said.

    He explained that to revamp Nigeria’s economy, the cost of governance must be reduced, adding “Malaysia refused to take an IMF loan and they go prudent with what they have. There is a need for us to cut the cost of governance and the money realised should be used for the development of the country.”

    Dr Onibon urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and all political holders to renew their intentions to rebuild the country as this will put a smile on the face of the masses.

    “The citizen should also renew their intentions. The success of this country depends on our intentions. All decisions and policies that are taken out of sincere intention will always end in a good way. Let the leaders and followers renew their intentions and be disciplined. What is the essence of a constitution or a law that is not implemented? It is as good as it doesn’t exist. The government should summon the courage to punish criminals. The kidnappers and those who embezzle our money must not go unpunished. Our insatiable greed led us to this insanity.”

    He urged Nigerians to be kind to one another as this will bring prosperity to the country.

    National President of the movement, Alhaji Mubashir Ojelade, commended members of the movement for steadfastness despite the economic crisis.

    “A group founded in 1960 and still in existence and the members are still committed despite the situation in the country. We all deserved commendation. I thank Almighty Allah on your behalf. May we not witness calamity in Nigeria.

    “If Almighty Allah blesses you with good health, food and adequate security in this economy, you must be thankful. Don’t allow your wants and taste to be bigger than what you earn. It makes people steal.”

  • IMF Executive Board shops for MD

    IMF Executive Board shops for MD

    • New chief to emerge next month

    The Board Coordinators of the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Afonso S. Bevilaqua and Abdullah F. BinZarah, said IMF has begun the selection for a new Managing Director.

    In a statement in Washington DC, the headquarters of the global financial institution, they said: “We are very pleased to announce that the Executive Board has adopted an open, merit-based, and transparent process for the selection of the next Managing Director, similar to the one used in recent rounds.

    Read Also: Experts fault IMF’s call on electricity subsidy removal

    “The Executive Board underscores the importance it places on the successful candidate having the requisite global standing to lead the Fund, which stands at the centre of the global financial system. Individuals may be nominated by a Fund Governor or Executive Director and as with past practice, we aim to reach a decision by consensus.

  • Experts fault IMF’s call on electricity subsidy removal

    Experts fault IMF’s call on electricity subsidy removal

    Financial experts have kicked against the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s call on the Federal Government to ensure total removal of electricity subsidy.

    In separate interviews with The Nation, the former President of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), McAntony Dike, advised the Federal Government not to heed the call.

    Dike said: “Although the Bretton Woods institution might have adequate data to support their argument, it should not be implemented. This is due to the adverse impact it will have on the average Nigerian whose disposable income has been eroded.”

    He urged the IMF to partner more with the Federal Government on ways to provide loans to overhaul the electricity industry for economic growth and development.

    This, he said, would restore the economy rather than suggest removal of electricity subsidy without any form of improved utility or service.

    The former president of CITN noted that the government should be more concerned on the ways to improve the provision of pre-paid meters to electricity consumers in the country instead of subsidy removal.

    Also, the former President of the Chartered Institute of Bankers Association of Nigeria (CIBAN), Okechukwu Unegbu, described the IMF’s suggestion as unnecessary.

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    Unegbu said: “The IMF proposal to the government to stop electricity subsidy is not the solution to our developmental challenges, especially now that the people are contending with a serious economic downturn.

    “Their economic advisories are not suitable for emerging economies such as ours because of our own peculiarities. Most of their policies often times are considered anti-people and they tend to impoverish the majority of our people which is our best assets.”

    President, Standard Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Godwin Anono, said: “The people have been grappling with too many headwinds in the economy which have led to increase in the cost of living crisis in the country. Implementing this proposed policy will worsen our economic woes. The various international lenders should allow our country to develop at its own pace because we are still an emerging economy with some structural challenges.’’

    The IMF had urged the Federal Government to completely phase out electricity subsidy in the country as a result of the hardship Nigerians are facing since the removal of fuel subsidy in May 2023.

    The Bretton Woods institution made this recommendation as the mechanism for Nigeria to restore macroeconomic stability; coming as corroboration to what the government had said late last year that electricity subsidy between January and September 2023 had gulped N375.8 billion.

    It noted that power consumers paid a total of N782.6 billion for the commodity during the same period.

    According to its published ‘Post Financing Assessment’ report, the IMF, added that the Federal Government had overwhelmed itself, thus recommending that the total removal of fuel and electricity subsidies be implemented.

  • IMF urges Fed Govt to address food insecurity

    IMF urges Fed Govt to address food insecurity

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said addressing food insecurity should be the immediate priority for the government.

    The IMF said this in its End-of-Mission statement issued after the completion of the IMF Staff 2024 Article IV Mission to Nigeria, a copy of which was obtained in Abuja yesterday.

    The statement included statements of IMF staff teams that convey preliminary findings after a visit to a country

    It said the new government inherited a difficult economic situation marked by low growth, low revenue collection, accelerating inflation, and external imbalances built up over the years.

    “Addressing food insecurity is the immediate priority. The recent approval of a well-targeted and effective social protection system is an important step toward addressing food insecurity in Nigeria and implementation will be crucial,” the statement said.

    It said the decision by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to further tighten monetary policy would help contain inflation and pressures on the Naira.

    The statement said an IMF team, led by Axel Schimmelpfennig, IMF mission chief for Nigeria, visited Lagos and Abuja to hold discussions for the 2024 Article IV Consultations with Nigeria.

    It said the team met with the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy of Nigeria, Wale Edun, and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Olayemi Cardoso.

    Read Also: Sujimoto, Enugu govt unite against food insecurity

    Others were the senior government and CBN officials, the Ministries of Agriculture and Environment, as well as representatives from sub-nationals, the private sector and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).

    At the end of the visit, Schimmelpfennig, in a statement said: “Nigeria’s economic outlook is challenging. Economic growth strengthened in the fourth quarter, with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth reaching 2.8 per cent in 2023. This falls slightly short of population growth dynamics.’’

    ”Improved oil production and an expected better harvest in the second half of the year are positive for 2024 GDP growth, which is projected to reach 3.2 per cent, although high inflation, naira weakness, and policy tightening will provide headwinds.

    “With about eight per cent of Nigerians deemed food insecure, addressing rising food insecurity is the immediate policy priority. In this regard, staff welcomed the authorities’ approval of an effective and well-targeted social protection system.

    “The team also welcomed the government’s release of grains, seeds, and fertiliser, as well as Nigeria’s introduction of dry-season farming.”