IMF Wrong On Nigeria’s Economic Projections In Four Years – Akabueze, DG Budget Office

The Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Ben Akabueze, has disclosed that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been wrong in its projections of the Nigerian economy in the last four years.

The Budget Office boss said IMF’s projections “do not represent the holy grail on economic growth”, adding that the organisation “can’t get it right better than the people who have direct responsibility for managing their individual economies”.

“In the last four years, IMF has got it wrong about our projections,” Akabueze said on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Wednesday. “Our actual growth has always beat their projections.”

Akabueze also spoke on the economic projections of the President Bola Tinubu government for 2024.

Akabueze said the growth rate projected by the Tinubu government in its maiden budget “doesn’t even yet reflect the ambition of the government”, adding that the incumbent administration “wants to double the GDP before the end of the first term”.

He said the 2024 budget estimates awaiting approval at the National Assembly were “way too small” to Nigeria’s need but the government had to cut its coat according to its cloth.

The Budget Office director general insisted that despite the criticisms against the 2024 budget estimates, the appropriation bill caters for the poor in terms of healthcare, security, education and the economy.