International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde has warned that African economies could be hurt by a slowdown in China’s economy and an imminent hike in United States interest rates.
Lagarde, speaking on Tuesday on a visit to Rwanda, said IMF’s global economic forecasts have been revised down over the past few months despite a huge fall in oil prices.
Lagarde called for “vigilance” across Africa and added this slower growth has implications for a continent that is now more integrated into the global economy than ever before.
“Momentum is slowing in many advanced and emerging economies, including China — one of Africa’s main trading partners,” Lagarde told Rwandan lawmakers in the capital Kigali.
Lagarde said the overall outlook for sub-Saharan Africa was promising at close to 5 percent, but growth forecasts for the region have been trimmed due to lower oil and commodity prices.
Comments are closed.