President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime has projected a rise to 4.2 per cent of Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022.
Finance minister Zainab Ahmed said this at the public consultation on the Draft 2022 to 2024 Medium Term Fiscal Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTFF/FSP) held on Thursday.
Ahmed explained that the GDP projected in 2021, to close at three per cent, had been adjusted downwards to close at 2.5 per cent.
“In 2022, we are expecting an uptake to 4.2 per cent, then a dip to 2.3 per cent in 2023 and up to 3.3 per cent in 2024,” she stated.
The minister further noted that the nominal GDP projected for 2022 was N184.38 trillion, up from N168.6 trillion in 2021 and then to N201 trillion in 2023 and N222 trillion in 2024.
She also pointed out that the government expected the inflation rate to drop slightly to 13 per cent in 2022 from 15 per cent in 2021, noting that the rise in inflation was due to the exchange rate.
“Inflation rate, which was planned for 11.95 per cent in 2021, has been reflected in reality because the exchange rate is high. The average we have so far is 15 per cent.
“We are expecting 2022 to go down slightly to 13 per cent, then 11 per cent in 2023 and 10 per cent in 2024,” Ms Ahmed.
She, however, said the federal government had put the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Rate Fixing (NAFEX) rate of N410.15 to $1 for 2022 to 2024.
“The exchange rate of the naira to the dollar, which was N379 in the 2021 budget, has been adjusted to the NAFEX rate of N410.15 to $1. We are assuming, for now, the same rate for 2022, 2023, and 2024,” explained the minister.
(NAN)