By Staff Reporter
November 7, 2018 – The Ethiopian economy is forecasted to grow by 8.5 percent this Ethiopian fiscal year which will end on July 7, 2019, according to IMF Economic Outlook for Africa.
According to the IMF’s outlook seen by Ezega.com on Thursday, Ethiopia will continue to be the fastest growing economy in Sub Saharan Africa followed by Rwanda with predicted growth rate of 7.8 percent and Senegal 6.7 percent.
Deputy Director IMF’s African Departments David Robinson told Ezega.com that Ethiopia’s growth was driven by the service sector and improved domestic and foreign investment.
The country registered 7.5 percent economic growth rate last year as announced by the same financial institution.
Growth in Sub Saharan Africa is expected to be 3.1 percent in 2018 up by 0.4 percent from growth rate of last year, IMF Division Chief of African Department Papa N’Diaye said
South Sudan and Equatorial Guinea were the least performing economies in sub Saharan Africa with -4.5 percent and -2.6 percent, respectively.
Growth momentum improved most notably for oil exporters, mainly in Nigeria, but remains subdued in South Africa. Growth in South Africa is expected to be about 0.8 percent in 2018.
Nigeria is expected to grow by 1.9 percent in 2018, up from 0.8 percent in 2017, mostly owing to fewer disruptions in oil production and some pick-up in the non-oil economy.
Growth is expected to be uneven and fragile across the continent especially for oil-exporting countries.
North African countries except Egypt are expected to have weaker economic performance with average growth rates of 1.6 percent in 2018 and 1.9 percent in 2019, said Ali Al-Eyd, IMF’s Deputy Division Chief for Middle East and Central Asia Department.
He said low performance of their agricultural sector was one of the factors attributable for weak economic performance of North African countries.
Egypt, however, will register more than 5 percent economic growth rate in 2019 to become the best performing economy in North Africa.
Source ፡Ezega.com