<\/p>\n
By Nana \u200c\u200c\u200d\u2060\u2060\u200d\u2060\u2060\u200d\u200c\u200d\u2060\u200d\u200d\u2060\u200cMusa<\/p>\n
The Federal Government says Fitch Ratings\u2019 revision of Nigeria\u2019s economic outlook to positive reflects sustained reforms, stronger external reserves and moderating inflation.<\/p>\n
Fitch, on Friday, revised Nigeria\u2019s Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings outlook to positive from stable, while affirming the country\u2019s rating at \u2018B\u2019.<\/p>\n
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja on Saturday.<\/p>\n
He said that the positive outlook indicated the possibility of a rating upgrade if current economic trends and reform momentum were sustained.<\/p>\n
Oyedele said that Fitch attributed the improved outlook to greater naira flexibility, disinflation and faster-than-expected accumulation of foreign exchange reserves.<\/p>\n
The minister said that Nigeria\u2019s gross foreign reserves rose to 54.9 billion dollars on Sept. 25, from 32 billion dollars in mid-April 2024.<\/p>\n
He said that the increase was supported by stronger portfolio inflows, higher export receipts and remittances, alongside increased formalisation of foreign exchange transactions.<\/p>\n
Oyedele said that the improved reserve quality had strengthened Nigeria\u2019s capacity to withstand external shocks, projecting a current account surplus of 6.4 per cent of GDP in 2026.<\/p>\n
He said that Fitch also forecast Nigeria\u2019s real GDP growth at 4.3 per cent in 2026, up from four per cent in 2025.<\/p>\n
It projected economic growth to remain above four per cent in 2027 and 2028, driven largely by non-oil activities.<\/p>\n
The minister said that crude oil production had met Nigeria\u2019s OPEC target of 1.5 million barrels per day since May.<\/p>\n
Oyedele said that increased domestic refining was reducing refined petroleum product imports and demand for foreign exchange.<\/p>\n
Average inflation was projected to moderate to 15.4 per cent in 2026, less than half its 2024 level.<\/p>\n
The minister said that on public finances, Fitch expects tax reforms to increase non-oil revenue relative to GDP, while government debt is projected to average 32 per cent of GDP between 2026 and 2028.<\/p>\n
The projected debt ratio is significantly below the 56 per cent median for countries rated \u2018B\u2019.<\/p>\n
The minister said Fitch also recognised Nigeria\u2019s liquid domestic debt market and bank recapitalisation exercise, noting that many banks had capital adequacy ratios exceeding 20 per cent.<\/p>\n
Oyedele said that the three major international rating agencies had taken positive rating actions on Nigeria in 2026.<\/p>\n
He recalled that S&P Global Ratings upgraded Nigeria\u2019s rating to \u2018B\u2019 from \u2018B-\u2019 in May, while Moody\u2019s Ratings revised its outlook to positive in August.<\/p>\n
Separately, FTSE Russell returned Nigeria to Frontier Market status, effective Sept. 21, 2026.<\/p>\n
According to the minister, the decisions reflect growing confidence in the country\u2019s economic reform trajectory.<\/p>\n
Oyedele said that the positive outlook validated reforms implemented under President Bola Tinubu, including fuel subsidy removal, exchange rate unification and tax reforms.<\/p>\n
He said that its medium-term ambition was to place the country firmly on the path to investment-grade status.<\/p>\n
It added that the reforms were intended to reduce borrowing costs, attract private investment and create decent jobs.<\/p>\n
However, he said that the government acknowledged Fitch\u2019s concerns about persistent inflation, low government revenue relative to economic output and high interest payments.<\/p>\n
Oyedele said these challenges remained central to the administration\u2019s reform programme.<\/p>\n
He reiterated the government commitment to sustaining reforms and maintaining a transparent, market-reflective foreign exchange regime.<\/p>\n
Other priorities include implementing new tax laws, improving spending efficiency, strengthening debt management and promoting non-oil growth.<\/p>\n
The minister also pledged to translate macroeconomic stability into shared prosperity through food security, job creation, human development and support for small businesses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Federal Government says Fitch Ratings\u2019 revision of Nigeria\u2019s economic outlook to positive reflects sustained reforms, stronger external reserves and moderating inflation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[160],"tags":[871,870],"class_list":["post-1570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science-technology","tag-affirms-b-rating","tag-fitch-upgrades-nigerias-outlook-to-positive"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1570"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1571,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1570\/revisions\/1571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}