Business
IMF Foresees Weaker Global Economic Growth

Executive Director, Centre for Citizens with Disabilities, Mr David Anyaele (left), presenting a research report on Access to Justice and Persons wth Disabilities to Representative of the Chief Judge, Ikeja High Court, Mrs Funmi Ajayi (right), in Lagos recently. With them is the Deputy Registrar, Mrs Judith Momodu.
Global economic growth
is likely to be weaker than earlier expected, the head of the International Monetary Fund IMF) said yesterday.
IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde told university students at the start of a two-day visit to Jakarta that low growth was due to slower recovery in advanced economies and a further slowdown in emerging nations.
Lagarde also warned emerging economies like Indonesia to “be vigilant for spill-overs” from China’s slowdown, tighter global financial conditions and the prospects of a U.S. interest rate hike.
“Overall, we expect global growth to remain moderate and likely weaker than we anticipated last July,” Lagarde told the students.
The IMF in July forecast global growth at 3.3 per cent this year, slightly below last year’s 3.4 per cent.
Lagarde said China’s economy was slowing, although not sharply or unexpectedly as it adjusts to a new growth model.
“The transition to a more market-based economy and the unwinding of risks built up in recent years is complex and could well be somewhat bumpy.
“That said, the authorities have the policy tools and financial buffers to manage this transition.”
Lagarde, who is visiting Indonesia for the first time in three years, said Southeast Asia’s largest economy had the “right tools to actually react” to the global volatility.
“You have very sound public finances with overall government debt in the range of twenty-ish per cent relative to GDP, you have a relatively small deficit,” she said before meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
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BVN Enrolments Rise 6% To 67.8m In 2025 — NIBSS
The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) has said that Bank Verification Number (BVN) enrolments rose by 6.8 per cent year-on-year to 67.8 million as at December 2025, up from 63.5 million recorded in the corresponding period of 2024.
In a statement published on its website, NIBSS attributed the growth to stronger policy enforcement by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the expansion of diaspora enrolment initiatives.
NIBSS noted that the expansion reinforces the BVN system’s central role in Nigeria’s financial inclusion drive and digital identity framework.
Another major driver, the statement said, was the rollout of the Non-Resident Bank Verification Number (NRBVN) initiative, which allows Nigerians in the diaspora to obtain a BVN remotely without physical presence in the country.
A five-year analysis by NIBSS showed consistent growth in BVN enrolments, rising from 51.9 million in 2021 to 56.0 million in 2022, 60.1 million in 2023, 63.5 million in 2024 and 67.8 million by December 2025. The steady increase reflects stronger compliance with biometric identity requirements and improved coverage of the national banking identity system.
However, NIBSS noted that BVN enrolments still lag the total number of active bank accounts, which exceeded 320 million as of March 2025.
The gap, it explained, is largely due to multiple bank accounts linked to single BVNs, as well as customers yet to complete enrolment, despite the progress recorded.
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