Niger's economy to grow by 5.2 percent in 2016 - IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that Niger’s economy is expected to growth by 5.2 percent in 2016.

Following a visit by officials of the fund to the west African country, the IMF concluded that Niger’s economic growth would be anchored by agricultural production and an up tick in mining an oil production.

The fund stated that inflation is expected to remain contained at below 2 percent while the GDP forecast for the next 5 years is expected to average at 6 percent.

IMF commended Niger’s government for making progress in implementing structural reforms and maintaining an adequate level of priority spending and added that the country’s macro economic performance has remained satisfactory.

However, the fund cautioned that regional security, economic and environmental issues still present some threat to the country’s economic growth.

“The economic outlook for the medium-term is favorable, but remains subject to substantial external and domestic risks,” the fund added.

Niger is a Uranium producer and is ranked in the bottom three countries in the United Nations global Human Development Index for 2015.

IMF