IMF raises Nigeria’s growth forecast to 3.3% on oil, improved agric output, security

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday, raised Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 2.9 percent in 2023 to 3.3 percent in 2024, saying that there is improved recovery of the country’s oil sector, better security situation, and improved agriculture.

The Fund disclosed this at a press conference on the world economic outlook addressed by Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, economic counsellor and director, research department, IMF, Petya Koeva-Brooks, deputy director, research department, IMF, and Daniel Leigh, division chief, research department, IMF, on the sidelines of the ongoing spring meetings in Washington D.C.

The IMF said Nigeria’s inflation will decline to 23 per cent next year and then 18 per cent in 2026, adding that the growth forecast is in the right direction.

Responding to BusinessDay’s question on the drivers the growth projection, Leigh said, “Growth on Nigeria is steady but actually rising this year from 2.9 percent last year to 3.3 percent this year. We have seen an expansion from the recovering oil sector with a better security situation and also improved agriculture benefiting from the better weather conditions and the introduction of dry season farming.

Related News

“So there is a broad-based increase also in the financial sector and the IT sector. Inflation has increased, part of this reflects the reforms, the exchange rate and it has passed from imports to other goods. This explains also why we revised our inflation projection for this year to 26 per cent.

“But with the tight monetary policies and the interest rate policy increase and significant interest rate in February and March, we see inflation declining to 23 per cent next year and then 18 per cent in 2026. So, it is in the right direction,” he said.

Details shortly…

Hope Moses-Ashike

Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks. She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings. Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.