The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has upgraded Nigeria’s 2026 economic growth forecast to 4.2% on Tuesday while calling on the Federal Government to provide temporary relief to millions of Nigerians affected by the rising cost of food and energy.
The new forecast is higher than the 4.1 percent projected for this year, while the 2027 figure remained unchanged at 4.3 percent.
The projections were contained in the IMF’s 2026 World Economic Outlook, ‘Resilience Under Strain, Urgent Choices,’ recently released in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Fund acknowledged that Nigeria’s improved outlook was largely due to greater macroeconomic stability and improved terms of trade, but warned that rising essential goods prices could exacerbate poverty and food insecurity.
The News Chronicle reports that the IMF Research Department Division Chief, Deniz Igan, responding to a question from Nigerian journalist Nancy Nnaji, recommended temporary cash transfers and targeted income support for vulnerable households.
Igan said such transfers would help Nigerians weather the difficult period without compromising the country’s medium term economic stability.
The comments were made as President Bola Tinubu’s administration faces immense pressure from the opposition and some members of the public to take action.
Opposition presidential candidates Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi have called for various measures to ease the burden on Nigerians.
The World Bank on Thursday raised its growth forecast for Nigeria to 4.3 percent for 2026, from 3.9 percent previously, and expects 4.4 percent for both 2027 and 2028.
The economy grew by 4.43 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
