Nigeria\u2019s economy will probably contract this year as energy shortages and
\nthe delayed budget weigh on output, according to the International
\nMonetary Fund.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there is a high likelihood that the year 2016 as a whole will be
\na contractionary year,\u201d Gene Leon, the fund\u2019s resident representative in
\nNigeria, said in an interview in the capital, Abuja, on July 8. While the
\neconomy should look better in second half of the year, growth will
\nprobably not \u201cbe sufficiently fast, sufficiently rapid to be able to
\nnegate the outcome of\u201d the first and second quarters, he said.<\/p>\n
Africa\u2019s largest economy shrunk by 0.4 percent in the three months through
\nMarch, the first contraction in more than a decade, as oil output and
\nprices slumped and the approval of spending plans for 2016 were delayed. A
\ncurrency peg and foreign-exchange trading restrictions, which were removed
\nlast month after more than a year, led to shortages of goods from gasoline
\nto milk and contributed to the contraction in the first quarter.<\/p>\n
While conditions that impeded growth in the first half of the year,
\nincluding shortages of power, fuel, and foreign exchange, as well as the
\nhigher price of dollars on the the parallel market, may have been reduced,
\nthey still weigh on the economy, Leon said.<\/p>\n
The Washington-based lender cut its 2016 growth forecast for Nigeria to
\n2.3 percent in its April Regional Economic Outlook from 3.2 percent
\nprojected in February. The World Bank lowered its forecast to 0.8 percent
\nlast month, citing weakness from oil-output disruptions and low prices.
\nLast year\u2019s expansion of 2.7 percent was the slowest in two decades,
\naccording to IMF data.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost people would agree that if you should fix one thing in this country, Nigeria generated an average of 2,464 megawatts of electricity on June 6<\/span><\/span>, While inflation will probably continue its upward trend through the end of The central bank\u2019s Monetary Policy Committee \u201cmay be open to tolerating a The Central Bank of Nigeria left its benchmark rate unchanged at 12 The MPC is likely to increase the rate by 500 basis points in the next President Muhammadu Buhari signed a record budget of 6.1 trillion naira If growth falls to zero percent \u201cthen that\u2019s a huge gap the country has to The naira, which as pegged at 197-199 per dollar until June 17, Nigeria\u2019s economy will probably contract this year as energy shortages and the delayed budget weigh on output, according to the International Monetary Fund. \u201cI think there is a high likelihood…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51111,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nit should be power,\u201d Leon said. \u201cThere is a need to start changing the
\npower equation from 2016, from today, not tomorrow<\/span><\/span> or later.\u201d<\/p>\n
\naccording to information from the power ministry. This is less than half
\nof the installed capacity of 5,000 megawatts for a nation whose population
\nof 180 million people is the highest on the continent. It compares to
\npower generating capacity of more than 40,000 megawatts in South Africa,
\nwhich has a population a third of the size.<\/p>\n
\nthis year, it is unlikely to exceed 20 percent, Leon said. Price growth
\naccelerated to 15.6 percent, the highest rate in more than six years, in
\nMay and probably quickened to 16.2 percent last month, according to the
\nmedian of seven economist estimates compiled by Bloomberg.<\/p>\n
\nlittle more inflation if growth emerges as the priority, as opposed to
\nchoking inflation and squeezing the little life out of growth,\u201d Leon said.
\n\u201cBut the central bank, in conjunction with the MPC, needs to be clear to
\nparticipants in markets what exactly their priority is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\npercent in May and will announce its next decision on July 26<\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n
\nyear \u201cto address the prevailing inconsistencies between an accommodative
\nmonetary policy and a more flexible exchange rate,\u201d Goldman Sachs said in
\na note on July 8.<\/p>\n
\n($21.6 billion) with a deficit of 2.2 trillion, or 2.14 percent of gross
\ndomestic product, in May after a delay of four months. The fact that the
\nbudget was passed late means it\u2019s likely not all the capital spending
\nplanned to boost growth will take place, or it will not be as prudent as
\ninitially set out, Leon said.<\/p>\n
\nfill,\u201d Leon said. If expenditure stays as planned, and revenue is less due
\nto the lack of growth \u201cthen we should see not smaller but potentially a
\nlarger deficit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\nstrengthened 0.1 percent to 282.33 per dollar at 3:13 p.m.<\/span><\/span> the commercial
\ncapital, Lagos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"