Nigeria, April 6 -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised upward its growth forecast for the Nigerian economy in 2021 to 2.5 per cent from its earlier projection of 1.5 per cent it announced in January.

The IMF announced the new projection in its World Economic Outlook update released on Tuesday.

The new growth projection is 1.0 per cent higher than the multilateral institution's 2021 forecast in January. January's forecast was a downward review from the forecast it shared in October 2020.

The Nigerian economy exited recession in the fourth quarter of 2020 with a modest 0.11 per cent growth.

The IMF also projected that in sub-Saharan Africa, growth will strengthen to 3.4 per cent in 2021, 0.2 per cent higher than the previ...