Nigerian bounces back, listed among 20 fastest growing Economies in the world

A new survey released by Bloomberg has projected that Nigeria, China, the Philippines, Kenya, India and Indonesia will rank among the 20 fastest growing economies in world this year.

In an accompanying chart by the New York-based financial newswire service, Nigeria with an expected growth rate of 4.9 per cent 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).

Other countries that made the list of 20, dominated by emerging economies in Asia and Africa, include: Malaysia in seventh place, Peru, Thailand, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kazakhstan, Colombia and Saudi Arabia.

Others are Taiwan, Turkey, South Korea, Poland, Mexico, Ireland and Singapore.

According to Bloomberg, “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, said Bloomberg.

“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,” the survey said.

Continuing, it added that Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is projected to expand at 4.9 per cent this year, while Kenya will probably grow 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.

“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.”