Nigeria’s economic reforms not yielding desired results – Report

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has indicated that the broad-based economic reforms embarked upon by the current federal government are still struggling for a positive impact, 18 months after commencement.

This is according to the latest outlook report of IMF for sub-Saharan Africa which also stated that stakeholders in the food sector have indicated that the reforms have failed to uplift the necessities of life in the country.

The IMF report acknowledged a few countries that have recorded little success in reforms but Nigeria was not mentioned, rather it mentioned Nigeria amongst those failing to meet desired results.

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The latest outlook report of the International Monetary Fund, IMF, for sub-Sahara Africa has indicated that the broad-based economic reforms embarked upon by the current federal government are still struggling for a positive impact, 18 months after commencement.

Also, stakeholders in the food sector have indicated that the reforms have failed to uplift the necessities of life in the country.

The IMF report acknowledged a few countries that have recorded little success in reforms but Nigeria was not mentioned, rather it mentioned Nigeria amongst those failing to meet desired results.

According to the report, the average economic growth rate in the region would remain at 3.6 per cent for the full year 2024, but Nigeria’s growth rate, at 3.19 per cent, is below this average.

Presenting the report at the Lagos Business School, Catherine Patillo, IMF’s deputy director, indicated that macroeconomic imbalances in the region have started reducing with notable improvements in some countries, but she excluded Nigeria in the good news.

“More than two-thirds of countries have undertaken fiscal consolidation. The median primary balance is expected to narrow by 0.7 percentage points alone in 2024. And these have included notable improvements in Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Zambia, among others,” she said.

Further on the improving macroeconomic situations in the region, Patillo stated: ‘‘On the imbalance side, median inflation has declined in many countries. And it’s already within or below the target band in about half the countries.”

But contrary to this position, Nigeria’s inflation which had slowed down in July and August returned to uptrend in September 2024 with further rise in October while analysts predict that November and December would sustain the uptrend.

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The IMF report actually mentioned Nigeria as one of the countries that have been unable to tame inflation.

‘‘Inflation is still in double digits in almost one-third of countries, including Angola, Ethiopia, and Nigeria, and above target in almost half of the region, particularly where monetary policy is not anchored by exchange rate pegs,” Patillo said.