Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed

The Nigerian Federal government has projected country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to grow by 4.2 per cent in 2022.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said this at the Public Consultation on the Draft 2022 to 2024 Medium Term Fiscal Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTFF/FSP) on Thursday.

Mrs Ahmed said the GDP, projected in 2021 to rise 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.”

The minister further said 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 said the inflation rate was expected to drop slightly to 13 per cent in 2022 from 15 per cent in 2021.

She noted that the increase 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.”