The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned against Nigeria’s rising unemployment rate which stands at 33.3 per cent of the country’s labour force.
During a virtual meeting held between the IMF team and Nigerian authorities, Jesmin Rahman, head of the IMF team, said the Nigerian economy has started to gradually recover from the negative effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic, but worried that the growth is hampered by the rising unemployment.
“Following sharp output contractions in the second and third quarters, GDP growth turned positive in Q4 2020 and growth reached 0.5 per cent (year on year) in Q1 2021, supported by agriculture and services sectors.
“Nevertheless, the employment level continues to fall dramatically and, together with other socioeconomic indicators, is far below pre-pandemic levels,” she said.
The IMF forecast a GDP growth of 2.5 per cent this year. The monetary fund also expects inflation rates to rise, projecting a slowdown of the rising prices in the second half of the year to reach about 15.5 per cent.
