This is slightly lower than the 3.7 per cent forecast by the gov­ernment and 3.8 per cent by the World Bank.

It is also 1.8 percentage points lower than the initial forecast of 5.4 per cent.

In its latest 2023 Macroeco­nomic Performance and Outlook Report, it said growth was weighed down by deep macroeconomic imbalances, higher inflation, depre­ciating local currency, and high public debt, estimated at 91 per cent of Gross Domestic Product.

The top growth performers in 2022 were Seychelles (8.3 per cent), Rwanda (6.9 per cent) and Kenya (5.5 per cent).

Growth in oil-exporting coun­tries declined marginally.

It said average growth in oil-exporting countries declined marginally to an estimated 4.0 per cent in 2022, from 4.2 per cent in 2021, largely reflecting the sharp decline in Libya and weaker growth in Nigeria.

“Africa’s oil-exporting coun­tries account for about 51 per cent of the continent’s GDP, so their growth has a significant influence on Africa’s average performance. Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and top oil producer, accounts for about 30 per cent of the output for this group of countries. But it has suffered from steady declines in oil production due to continuing underinvestment in infrastructure and rising incidences of theft and overall insecurity