Africa-Press – Mozambique. The World Bank has revised downwards its economic growth forecasts for all Portuguese-Speaking African Countries (PALOP), with the exception of Equatorial Guinea, where it maintains its forecast of a 2.7% recession.
According to the chapter of the report on sub-Saharan Africa in the Global Economic Prospects report, all Portuguese-speaking countries saw their growth prospects deteriorate, with the exception of Equatorial Guinea, a country for which the World Bank maintains the forecast of a -2.7% recession.
Equatorial Guinea is, along with South Sudan (-0.8%), the only country in the region that is expected to record negative growth this year, and the only one expected to remain “in the red” in 2024, when it can expect to see a 3.4% contraction.
The World Bank estimates that Angola will grow by 2.8%, 0.5 points less than the forecast in June, while Cape Verde is expected to register an expansion of 4.8%, that is, 1.3 points less.
In Guinea-Bissau, the World Bank continues to predict a growth of 4.5% for this and next year, and for Mozambique it cut one percentage point off its forecast economic expansion, which is now 5%.
In São Tomé and Príncipe, the new forecast of 2.1% represents a cut of 0.9 points compared to June estimates.
The document predicts a 5% growth in sub-Saharan Africa this year and next, slightly below the June forecast, while World Bank economists warn that “the external environment is likely to remain challenging for some countries, with further declines in various commodity prices raw materials, which should harm revenues and exports”.
Many countries, they add, “will continue to face high prices for imports of fertilisers and fuel, despite [them] being below the peak registered last year”.
At the regional level, sub-Saharan Africa is expected to grow 3.6 percent in 2023 and 3.9 percent in 2024. “Compared to the June forecast, growth was revised down for almost 60 percent of countries.”
This happens “in consequence of the slowdown of the global economy and the tightening of financial conditions, together with the increase in inflation, which undermined the already fragile recoveries and increased internal vulnerabilities”, the World Bank concludes, cutting its overall global growth forecast for 2023 from 3% to 1.7% .
For More News And Analysis About Mozambique Follow Africa-Press
