UN revises downward Mozambique growth to 4% in 2017

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UN revises downward Mozambique growth to 4% in 2017

6:18 CAT | 18 May 2017

Lusa (File photo)

The economic affairs analyst for Africa at the United Nations told Lusa on Wednesday that Mozambique’s economic growth forecast had been revised down from 5.5 percent to around 4 percent.

“In Mozambique, we have revised growth for 2017 downward to around 4 percent,” Helena said following the release of the May update of the United Nations World Economic Outlook and Outlook for 2017, released in January.

“The liquidity problem is one of the main risks for the Mozambican economy, and will impact the level of foreign debt and the budget,” she added, noting that “macroeconomic instability will not help the performance of the economy, either”.

In a telephone interview with Lusa from New York, Afonso said that the UN had “also noted the continuation of political tension between the opposition parties and the government, although with recent political improvements”.

Peace, she said, “is not definitively consolidated, and the economy reflects this”, so the UN foresees “growth in 2017 and 2018 greater than in 2016, but very moderate compared to the last seven years”.

The UN report, released on Tuesday in New York, says that the outlook for the African economy has deteriorated slightly, mainly because “the smooth economic recovery of many commodity-exporting countries has been eclipsed by internal and regional pressures”.

The document presents a growth forecast of 2.9 percent for this year and 3.6 percent for 2018, representing a downward revision of 0.3 and 0.2 percentage points respectively.

The United Nations’ outlook for 2017 points to “modest growth” this year and next, but still insufficient for rapid progress towards achieving the sustainable development goals.

According to the report, the world economy is expected to grow 2.7 percent this year and 2.9 percent in 2018, accelerating from the 2.3 percent last year “but the strength of the recovery in many regions remains insufficient for rapid progress towards sustainable development goals”.

“More effort is needed to create an environment that can accelerate growth in the medium term and fight poverty through policies that address inequities in income and opportunity,” the United Nations experts say.

Source: Lusa