Washington, DC — On January 27, 2021, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation [1] with Nigeria.
Nigeria's economy has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Following a sharp drop in oil prices and capital outflows, real GDP is estimated to have contracted by 3.2 percent in 2020 amidst the pandemic-related lockdown. Headline inflation rose to 14.9 percent in November 2020, a 33-month high, reflecting core and food inflation increases emanating from supply shortages due to the lockdown effected to curb infections alongside, the land-border closure and continued import restrictions. The unemployment rate reached 27 percent in the second quarter of 2020, with youth unemployment at 41 percent.
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