Mr Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that available data and forecasts for key macroeconomic indicators suggest that Nigeria’s economy will grow at a subdued rate in 2023.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Mr Emefiele, who made the disclosure at the 289th post-MPC press briefing on Tuesday, stressed that increased spending towards the 2023 general election, amongst other factors, remains the key source of shocks to the Nigerian economy.
He itemized the other factors to include the high level of insecurity in the country, perennial scarcity of premium motor spirit (PMS), high cost of other energy sources, the rising cost of debt servicing and deteriorating fiscal balances.
“Available data and forecasts for key macroeconomic indicators for Nigeria suggest that the economy will continue to grow through 2023 but at a subdued pace.
“The continued high level of insecurity, perennial scarcity of premium motor spirit (PMS) and high cost of other energy sources, increase spending towards the 2023 general election, the rising cost of debt servicing and deteriorating fiscal balances remain the key sources of shocks to the Nigerian economy.
“Accordingly, the economy is forecast to grow in 2023 by 2.88% by the CBN estimate, 4.2% by the federal government estimate and 3% by the IMF estimate,” Emefiele said at the press briefing, following the apex bank’s first MPC meeting of the year.