The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has retained Nigeria’s 2.5 per cent economic growth forecast for 2021.



The institution said this in its World Economic Outlook (WEO) for July entitled “Fault Lines Widen in the Global Recovery” released on Tuesday in Washington DC.

According to the report, the slow rollout of vaccines was the main factor weighing on the recovery for Low Income Developing Countries (LIDCs) which Nigeria is part of.
It also retained its 6.0 per cent growth forecast for the global economy for 2021 and 4.9 per cent in 2022, adding that though the global forecast was unchanged from the April 2021 WEO, there were offsetting revisions.

The IMF had at its 2021 Virtual Spring Meetings in April, projected a 2.5 per cent growth for Nigeria’s economy in 2021, up from 1.5 per cent it projected in January.

It said that in LIDCs, the overall fiscal deficit in 2021 was revised up by 0.3 percentage points from the April 2021 WEO, mainly because of the re-emergence of fuel subsidies as well as the additional COVID-19 and security related support in Nigeria.
“Still, at 5.2 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the overall fiscal deficit remains well below that of advanced and emerging market economies, reflecting financing constraints, about 60 per cent of LIDCs are assessed to be at high risk of or in debt distress.

“The public debt-to-GDP ratio for 2021 is projected at 48.5 per cent.

“Several LIDCs have announced an intention to restructure their debts and some have sought debt relief under the G20 Common Framework.