The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has countered the projections of the federal government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the growth of Nigeria’s economy in 2023.
According to the apex bank boss, Godwin Emefiele, the CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) projected that the country’s economy will grow by 2.88 per cent in 2023, against the 4.2 per cent and 3.0 per cent projected by FG and IMF.
“Available data and forecast for key macroeconomic indicators for Nigeria suggest that the economy will continue to grow through 2023, but at a subdued pace,” Emefiele said during the post-MPC meeting held in Abuja.
He added that, “the economy is forecast to grow in 2023 by 2.88 per cent by the CBN estimate, 4.2 per cent Federal Government estimate, and 3 per cent by the IMF estimate.”
Emefiele said Nigeria’s economy is exposed to risk from the Russia-Ukraine war, heightened inflationary pressure across several economies, as well as return of COVID-19 in China that has led to sharp slowdown of economic activities in the Asian country.
He named rising debt levels, high level of insecurity, scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and increased spending towards the general election as other key shocks to the Nigerian economy.
