The World Bank yesterday projected 3.6 per cent average economic growth for the Nigerian economy between 2025 and 2026, adding that recent reforms by the Federal Government helped to boost business confidence.
The World Bank stated this in its report, Global Economic Prospects, January 2025.
The World Bank said: “In Nigeria, Gross Domestic Product, GDP, growth increased to an estimated 3.3 percent in 2024, mainly driven by services sector activity, particularly in financial and telecommunication services.
“Macroeconomic and fiscal reforms helped improve business confidence. In response to rising inflation and a weak naira, the central bank tightened monetary policy.
“Meanwhile, the fiscal deficit narrowed due to a surge in revenues driven by the elimination of the implicit foreign exchange subsidy, following the unification of the exchange rate and improved revenue administration.
“Growth in Sub Saharan African, SSA is expected to firm to 4.1 percent in 2025 and 4.3 percent in 2026, as financial conditions ease alongside further declines in inflation. Following weaker-than-expected regional growth last year, growth projections for 2025 have been revised upward by 0.2 percentage point, and for 2026 by 0.3 percentage point, with improvements seen across various subgroups. At the country level, projected growth has been upgraded for nearly half of SSA economies in both 2025 and 2026.
“Growth in Nigeria is forecast to strengthen to an average of 3.6 percent a year in 2025-26. Following monetary policy tightening in 2024, inflation is projected to gradually decline, boosting consumption and supporting growth in the services sector, which continues to be the main driver of growth. Oil production is expected to increase over the forecast period but remain below the OPEC quota. The baseline forecast implies that per capita income growth will remain weak over the forecast horizon.”
