IMF got it wrong on Nigeria’s economic projections for four years –DG Budget Office

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been accused of being wrong in its projections of the Nigerian economy in the last four years, the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Ben Akabueze, has revealed.

This is even as he disclosed that the IMF’s projections “do not represent the holy grail on economic growth”, adding that the organisation “can’t get it right better than the people who have direct responsibility for managing their individual economies.

Akabueze made this known while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Wednesday night.

“In the last four years, IMF has got it wrong about our projections. Our actual growth has always beat their projections.”

READ ALSO:Budget Office DG, Akabueze pushes for tax from Nigeria’s billionaires to aid funds generation

“IMF’s projections do not represent the holy grail on economic growth, they can’t get it right better than the people who have direct responsibility for managing their individual economies” he said.

It would be recalled that IMF had in its October ‘World Economic Outlook: Navigating Global Divergences’ disclosed that Nigeria’s economic growth is projected to decline from 3.3 per cent in 2022 to 2.9 per cent in 2023.

However, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at his maiden budget presentation expects Nigeria’s economy to grow by 3.76%.

Speaking on this, Akabueze said the growth rate projected by the Tinubu government in its maiden budget speech doesn’t even yet reflect the ambition of the government”, adding that the incumbent administration “wants to double the GDP before the end of the first term”.

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