The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) has projected that unemployment rate is likely to increase to 37 per cent in 2023.
In its latest report 2023 Macroeconomic Outlook report titled ‘Nigeria in Transition: Recipes for Shared Prosperity’, the group said, poverty headcount will rise to 45 per cent due to weak performance in the job-elastic sectors.
The NESG revealed that low labour absorption of sectors that will drive growth and population growth estimated at 3.2 per cent would lead to a decline in real per capita income.
The think-tank group also noted that the inflation rate will average 20.5 percent in 2023 and that the country’s Gross Domestic Growth rate will moderate to 2.98 percent.
The report added: “Inflationary pressure is expected to remain elevated, driven by structural, cost and monetary factors. Food inflation will remain the fundamental driver of inflation due to the enduring impact of flooding, increased production costs due to increased cost of credit, insecurity and displacement.
“Existing fuel shortages and the removal of fuel subsidies will continue to increase the core components, especially transportation.”
Furthermore, the Group said, economic growth will be subdued in 2023 due to strains on investment and low productivity in critical sectors.
“The services sector will drive economic growth, but this growth will not be strong enough to generate significant jobs.
“As a result, unemployment will remain unabated. Economic growth will be supported by election-related spending and improvement in the oil sector”, it added.
Meanwhile, the World Bank has said that Nigeria must invest in human capital, put in place necessary infrastructure, tackle insecurity, as well as empower the private sector to flourish to create more jobs.
World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Dr. Shubham Chaudhuri, said this yesterday, during the launch of the NESG 2023 Macroeconomic Outlook Report.
The multilateral institution said it is impossible for any country to achieve a shared prosperity without putting these in place.
Chaudhuri, who gave insights from a macroeconomic perspective, challenges facing Nigerians, advised the Federal Government to be judicious in spending.