The International Monetary Fund, IMF, has downgraded Nigeria’s real GDP growth in 2024 to 3.1 percent from 3.3 percent in April.
IMF made this known in its recent update to the global economic outlook titled “Global Economy in a Sticky Spot” released on Tuesday.
According to the report, the downgrade in the country’s economic growth stems from weaker-than-expected activities in the first Quarter of 2024.
The IMF further downgraded economic growth projections for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) on the back of a decline in economic activities in Nigeria from 3.8 percent to 3.7 percent.
The report reads, “The forecast for growth in sub-Saharan Africa is revised downward, mainly as a result of a 0.2 percentage point downward revision to the growth outlook in Nigeria amid weaker than expected activity in the first quarter of this year.”
Furthermore, the IMF left growth projections for other strong economies in Africa unchanged at 0.9 percent in 2024 and 1.2 percent in 2025.
Meanwhile, Egypt saw a 0.3 percent-point decline in economic growth projections in 2024 and 2025 from 3.0 percent in the earlier projection to 2.7 percent and from 4.4 percent to 4.1 percent.
Recall that in April 2024, the IMF adjusted Nigeria’s economic growth forecast to 3.3 percent in 2024.
The development comes as Nigeria’s GDP declined by 2.98 percent in Q1 2024 due to economic hardships according to the National Bureau of Statistics.