IMF forecast: Experts proffer increased oil export to accelerate economic growth

Prof. Bright Eregha, a lecturer of economics at Pan-Atlantic University, has advised the Federal Government to increase its crude oil exports and harness the agricultural prospects to facilitate growth beyond the International Monitory Fund (IMF) projection.

He gave the advice in an interview with the newsmen in Lagos on Saturday.

Supreme News reports that the Fund has downgraded its forecast for Nigeria’s 2024 economic growth to 3.0 percent, which represents one percentage point below the growth forecast of 3.1 percent made in October 2023.

The negative forecast was announced by the IMF in its World Economic Outlook update for January 2024.

The IMF also noted a reduction in the status of economic growth for the Sub-Saharan Africa region in 2024 to 3.2 percent from the 3.4 percent forecast in October 2023.

Eregha said that the exportation of crude oil and gas is the panacea to suppress the impending growth downgrade.

“The government should put in more effort to tackle oil theft in the Niger Delta region to scale up its production output.

“This will enable the country meet its Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quota and improve our fiscal revenues,” Eregha said.

He noted that the federal government should continue to evolve economic reforms that would improve the business environment for investment.

He said that the government needs to be more proactive in tackling insecurity challenges to encourage more foreign direct investment (FDI inflows.

Also speaking, an economist, Dr Mc-Antony Dike, said the federal government should invest more in the productive sector of the economy to galvanise growth.

Dike, a former President of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITAN), said that injection of more funds into the agricultural sector would facilitate economic growth.

Such investment, he suggested, should be particularly in cash crops because they are high-yielding in the international market.

“Our agricultural sector over the years has been the highest contributor to the country’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP) prior to the insecurity challenges, ”Dike said.

He noted that the government should accord priority to gas exploitation as additional revenue earning to facilitate the growth of the economy.

“The regulator should begin to initiate collaborative joint venture projects with International Oil Companies (OIC) for the exploitation of our gas and its attendant consequences on our fiscal revenues.

“Our gas reserves are one of the largest on the globe, which is often sought after because it’s a cleaner form of energy, “Dike said.