Nigeria’s economy to grow by 2.9% — NESG

The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) has projected that the country’s economy will grow by 2.9 per cent this year.

This was contained in the NESG’s 2021 Macroeconomic outlook and review of 2020 economic performance released recently.

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“In addition to a high Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, the country will achieve a more robust and resilient economy exemplified by improved external reserves and fiscal position as well as stable inflation rate,” it projected.

NESG also projected that government revenue would increase by 23.3 per cent in 2021 and is expected to increase further till 2025.

“Exchange rates will become stable and key inclusive growth indicators such as unemployment and poverty rates will gradually reduce over time,” it said.

In the worst scenario, it projected that real GDP would decline by 2.5 per cent and 0.6 per cent in 2021 and 2022 respectively while in 2023, 2024 and 2025, the economy would expand by 1.1 per cent, 1.7 per cent and 1.9 per cent respectively.

Still in the worst-case scenario, it projected that government revenue would increase marginally by an average of 5.2 per cent over the following four years while inflationary pressure would increase further as inflation rate rises to 17 per cent and 18.7 per cent in 2021 and 2023 respectively before inching down to 17.7 per cent in 2025.

Unemployment rate increases to 33 per cent in 2021, further to 35.3 per cent in 2024 before retreating to 34.7 per cent in 2025.

“What needs to be done is not only about coming out of the current recession, but also about holistically deploying appropriate measures to sustain the economy on a strong growth path accompanied by massive job creation and poverty reduction,” the report stated.