On February 27, 2015, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation1 with Nigeria.
Nigeria has a large and diverse economy that has achieved a decade of strong growth, averaging 6.8 percent a year, and now accounts for 35 percent of Sub-Saharan Africa's gross domestic product (GDP). Inflation has remained in single digits for two years, and the banking sector, which has a strong capital base, is expanding credit. The trade surplus has been declining since the second quarter of 2013 on lower oil exports and continued strong growth of imports, and gross international reserves have been falling. Meanwhile, the general government fiscal deficit and public debt have been kept low. However, Nigeria still lags its peers in critical infrastructure and has high rates of poverty and income inequality. While the economy is diverse, with services accounting for over 50 percent of GDP in 2013, and oil only 13 percent, the oil sector remains a critical source for revenue and foreign exchange. With limited fiscal and external buffers ($2 billion in the excess crude account and $34.25 billion in gross international reserves, respectively at the end of 2014), the sharp decline of oil prices in the second half of 2014 underscores the challenging but compelling need to address remaining development challenges.
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