Curator

http://ift.tt/2pKvyeT PHOTO: nta.ng Suffering from rampant inflation, stalled investment and mass layoffs, Nigeria is still gripped by one of the worst economic crises in its history. But for the first time in months, the West African economic giant is finally looking to exit its first recession in decades. On Thursday, parliament approved the government’s ambitious seven-trillion-naira ($23-billion) budget to “pull the economy out of recession as quickly as possible”. The plan, bolstered by improved output in oil production and a potential billion-dollar World Bank loan, aims to kick-start growth through rail, ports and power projects. In January, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it expected Nigerian growth to hit 0.8 percent for 2017 and 2.8 percent in 2018. Others are more optimistic. “Growth of 2.0 percent (in 2017) is totally possible,” said Moody’s analyst Aurelien Mali at the ratings agency’s annual West Africa conference in Lagos this week. “Import figu...