Nigeria Makes List Of 20 Fastest Growing Economies

A new report released by Bloomberg, a New York-based financial newswire service, has named Nigeria, the Philippines, China, Kenya, Indonesia and India as countries that would join the ranks of the 20 fastest growing economies in the world this year.

According to the report, Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is projected to expand at 4.9 per cent this year while Kenya is expected to by 6 per cent in 2015, even as unemployment and poverty remain stubbornly high with over 40 per cent of Kenyans living below the poverty line.

Nigeria was ranked sixth behind China (7 per cent), the Philippines (6.3 per cent), Kenya (6 per cent), India (5.5 per cent) and Indonesia (5.4 per cent).

Peru, Thailand, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kazakhstan, Colombia and Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Turkey, South Korea, Poland, Mexico, Ireland and Singapore also made the list in the global economic ranking.

“Emerging markets in Asia and Africa still reign supreme; they’re at the top of global growth projections over the next two years. The world is expected to grow 3.2 per cent in 2015 and 3.7 per cent next year after expanding 3.3 per cent in each of the past two years,” according to a Bloomberg survey of economists.

“China, the Philippines, Kenya, India and Indonesia, which together make up about 16 per cent of global gross domestic product, are all forecast to grow more than 5 per cent in 2015. By comparison, the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK), which combined account for about a quarter of global growth, are expected to grow 3.1 and 2.6 per cent this year respectively, saidBloomberg.

“The euro area probably will expand just 1.2 per cent as European Central Bank president, Mario Draghi, deals with a fragile Greece and embarks on a bond-purchase programme to stimulate the region’s growth. China still remains the fastest-growing G-20 nation even though the Asian economy is no longer expanding at the pace it did a few years ago. China’s economy grew 7.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2014 from a year earlier, and is expected to slow to 7 per cent in 2015.

“To counter that slowdown, People’s Bank of China policy makers are boosting monetary stimulus. The central bank cut its benchmark interest rate in November for the first time since 2012.

This month officials lowered by 50 basis points the deposit reserve ratio which is the amount of reserves that banks need to keep on hand. US growth forecasts for 2015 are coalescing around 3 per cent even as the dollar soars to its highest level in more than a decade.

“As growth picks up, the Federal Reserve is weighing whether to raise interest rates for the first time since 2006. Their benchmark federal funds rate has remained near zero since December 2008,” the survey said.

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