International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted that
Nigeria’s economy will grow at a faster pace than the South Africa’s in the
2018 fiscal year. According to its World Economic Outlook (WEO) for July 2017,
the IMF said Nigeria will grow at 1.9 percent in 2018, while South Africa will
only climb by 1.2 percent.
The Bretton Woods institution, which held global growth
projections at 3.5 percent in 2017 and 3.6 percent in 2018 — said growth was
marked down in South Africa, due to elevated political uncertainty.
“In Sub-Saharan Africa, the outlook remains challenging.
Growth is projected to rise in 2017 and 2018, but will barely return to
positive territory in per capita terms this year for the region as a whole—and
would remain negative for about a third of the countries in the region,” the
IMF said via WEO.
“The slight upward revision to 2017 growth relative to the
April 2017 WEO forecast reflects a modest upgrading of growth prospects for South
Africa, which is experiencing a bumper crop due to better rainfall and an
increase in mining output prompted by a moderate rebound in commodity prices.
“However, the outlook for South Africa remains difficult,
with elevated political uncertainty and weak consumer and business confidence,
and the country’s growth forecast was consequently marked down for 2018”, it
noted.
IMF also added that global growth will be aided by growths in
the US and the UK, who are projected to grow at 2.1 percent and 1.5 percent
respectively.
“China’s growth projections have also been
revised up (6.7%), reflecting a strong first quarter of 2017 and expectations
of continued fiscal support.
“Inflation in advanced
economies remains subdued and generally below targets; it has also been
declining in several emerging economies, such as Brazil, India, and Russia.”
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