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.”