Nigeria’s economic misery is likely to continue till 2024, if predictions by the World Bank is anything to go by. The bank sees crude oil prices falling in the next two years.
The World Bank‘s latest commodity markets outlook report released on October 26, said, oil prices will likely experience a decline from now till 2024. The report forecast that the benchmark oil price, Brent crude, could drop from $120 per barrel in June to $90 per barrel in September. The price of Brent crude oil may also average $92 per barrel in 2023 and $80 per barrel in 2024, the World Bank outlook said.
Global growth has decelerated and is expected to slow further in 2023, due to synchronous policy tightening, worsening financial conditions, and declining confidence. Additional negative shocks, such as higher inflation or financial stress, could push the global economy into a recession.
As the World Bank noted, global recessions have been associated with large declines in oil consumption in the past, although the severity is always varied. The largest decline in oil consumption occurred in the 1980s, with consumption falling for four consecutive years.
Nairametric said, since the beginning of 2022, Nigeria has failed to capitalize on the recent oil market boom due to increased crude oil theft which has hampered production. So, while other crude oil producers were gaining from high oil prices, Nigeria could not. Crude oil is the major contributor to Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) as of today, so, crude oil theft has done major damage to the economy.
