Economy
IMF Retains 2.9% GDP Growth Forecast for Nigeria in 2024, 3.2% in 2025
By Adedapo Adesanya
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted that growth in Nigeria will remain unchanged at 2.9 per cent this year and 3.2 per cent in 2025 due to weaker-than-expected activity in the first half of the year.
This is as the wider Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), which includes Nigeria, will remain unchanged at 3.6 per cent this year, rising to 4.2 per cent in 2025 as weather shocks abate and supply constraints ease.
In its new World Economic Outlook (WEO) report, the Bretton Wood institution also estimates that global growth is expected to ease slightly to 3.2 per cent this year and remain at that level in 2025.
The report noted that global inflation will continue to ease, hitting 5.8 per cent this year, before falling further to 4.3 per cent in 2025.
The report finds that the United States has remained an engine of global growth — in sharp contrast with the euro area, where expansion remains slow.
The world’s largest economy is now expected to grow by 2.8 per cent this year, down ever-so-slightly from the 2.9 per cent seen in 2023, but still a shade better than the Fund’s previous estimate in July.
It is then expected to ease somewhat to 2.2 per cent in 2025 — up 0.3 percentage points from July — as fiscal policy is “gradually tightened and a cooling labour market slows consumption,” the IMF said.
In Europe, growth is still trending higher but remains low by historical standards, and is on track to be at 0.8 per cent this year, rising slightly to 1.2 per cent in 2025.
While France and Spain saw upgrades in their outlook for 2024, the IMF cut its projections for German growth by 0.2 percentage points this year, and by half a percentage point next year, citing its “persistent weakness in manufacturing.”
In the United Kingdom, the IMF says growth is projected to accelerate in both 2024 and 2025, “as falling inflation and interest rates stimulate domestic demand.”
Growth in Japan is expected to slow sharply to just 0.3 per cent this year, before accelerating to 1.1 per cent next year boosted by private consumption as real wage growth strengthens, according to the IMF.
The lender expects the growth in economic output in China to continue to cool, easing from 5.2 per cent last year to 4.8 per cent this year, and then falling further to 4.5 per cent in 2025.
“Despite persisting weakness in the real estate sector and low consumer confidence, growth is projected to have slowed only marginally,” the IMF said, pointing to better-than-expected net exports from the world’s second-largest economy.
The slowdown in India was put at a growth of 7.0 per cent this year, down from 8.2 per cent in 2023.
The IMF expects growth in the Middle East and Central Asia to pick up slightly to 2.4 per cent this year, before jumping to 3.9 per cent in 2025 as the temporary effect of oil and shipping disruptions fade.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.16 per cent decline on Tuesday, January 21, extending its loss this week to two.
This further depleted the market capitalisation of the alternative stock exchange by N1.65 billion at the close of transactions to N1.071 trillion from the N1.073 trillion it closed in the preceding session.
In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) slid by 4.79 points to wrap the session at 3,100.33 points compared with 3,105.12 points recorded in the previous session.
The bourse ended with two price losers yesterday led by Geo Fluids Plc, which gave up 32 Kobo to trade at N4.38 per share versus Monday’s closing price of N4.70 per share and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which depreciated by 15 Kobo to close at N39.50 per unit compared with the previous day’s N39.65 per unit.
On the second trading day of the week, the number of deal carried out slightly went up by 8.3 per cent to 13 deals from the 12 deals executed at the previous trading session.
Also, the value of transactions increased by 97.2 per cent to N4.5 million from the N2.5 million recorded a day earlier, while the volume of securities traded in the session declined by 71.6 per cent to 183,780 units from the 767,610 units recorded on Monday.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc remained the most traded equity by value (year-to-date) with 4.1 million units worth N162.9 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 9.1 million units valued at N44.0 million, and 11 Plc with 55,358 sold for N14.5 million.
Also, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc closed the day as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 25.3 million units worth N5.9 million, trailed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 9.1 million units sold for N44.0 million, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 4.1 million units valued at N162.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Pressure further mounted on the Nigerian Naira in the different segments of the foreign exchange market on Tuesday, making its value to shrink against the United States Dollar at the close of business.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), the domestic currency crashed against its American counterpart during the session by 0.18 per cent or N2.73 to settle at N1,552.78/$1, in contrast to Monday’s closing price of N1,550.05/1.
But against the Pound Sterling and the Euro, the local currency traded flat in the official market yesterday at N1,906.98/£1 and N1,613.48/€1, respectively.
As for the black market segment, the Naira weakened against the Dollar on Tuesday by N5 to sell for N1,670/$1 compared with the preceding day’s value of N1,665/$1.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market heaved a sigh of relief during the session as President Donald Trump created a crypto task force dedicated to “developing a comprehensive and clear regulatory framework for crypto assets.”
The task force will be led by Commissioner Hester Peirce, a long-time advocate for the crypto industry, and will work closely with the crypto industry to develop regulations. This is after Mr Gary Gensler, an opponent of crypto, officially stepped down as chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after Mr Trump’s term started.
The task force will also work with Congress, providing “technical assistance” as it crafts crypto regulations.
Solana (SOL) recorded a 9.2 per cent growth to sell at $257.09, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 7.6 per cent to $0.36789, Ripple (XRP) added 4.0 per cent to finish at $3.18, and Bitcoin (BTC) increased by 3.7 per cent to $105,515.03.
Further, Binance Coin (BNB) appreciated by 2.8 per cent to close at $699.01, Cardano jumped by 2.1 per cent to trade at $0.9972, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 2.0 per cent to settle at $3,308.21, and Litecoin (LTC) went up by 1.5 per cent to end at $116.72, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The price of the Brent crude oil grade went below the $80 mark on Tuesday after it shed 86 cents or 1.1 per cent to trade at $79.29 per barrel after the US President, Mr Donald Trump, signaled the possibility of his country boosting its oil production.
This move raised concerns of higher US output in a market widely expected to be oversupplied this year, with the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures falling by $1.99 or 2.6 per cent during the session to $75.89 per barrel.
On his first day in office, the US President signed an executive order to unleash America’s energy by easing the barriers to oil and gas extraction and production and revoking a series of climate orders by former President Joe Biden.
As pledged in the campaign, the executive order follows the declaration of a national energy emergency.
The declaration includes measures to expedite energy infrastructure delivery, and emergency approvals by agencies “to facilitate the identification, leasing, siting, production, transportation, refining, and generation of domestic energy resources, including, but not limited to, on Federal lands.”
This will likely confirm expectations that the oil market will be oversupplied this year after weak economic activity and energy transition efforts weighed heavily on demand in top-consuming nations the US and China.
President Trump also said he was considering imposing 25 per cent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico from February 1, rather than on his first day in office as promised.
The delay helped ease concerns of an immediate tightening of the market among US refiners, many of which are geared to process the type of crude oil supplied by these countries.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reiterated on Tuesday its expectations for oil prices to decline both this year and next.
On its part, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) projects robust demand growth in the world both this year and next.
In 2025, OPEC says demand is set to grow by 1.4 million barrels per day leaving its projection unchanged from the December report.
However, losses were also limited after the US president said his administration would “probably” stop buying oil from Venezuela. The U.S. is the second-biggest buyer of Venezuelan oil after China.
Also weighing on prices on Tuesday was the potential end to the shipping disruption in the Red Sea.
Yemen’s Houthis said on Monday they will limit their attacks on commercial vessels to Israel-linked ships provided the Gaza ceasefire is fully implemented.
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