The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has called on the International Monetary Fund to proffer country specific policies in order to address the issue of high interest rates in Nigeria and other African countries.

She made the request during a plenary session with the International Monetary and Finance Committee in Washington DC where she spoke on behalf of Africa.

Ahmed who confirmed the development during a chat with journalists said the request became imperative due to the impact the current global slowdown had on African economies.

She said since the last meeting in April this year, the global economy had experienced a synchronised slowdown with growth weaker than expected in about 90 countries.

According to Ahmed, growth is projected to slow from 3.6 per cent in 2018 to three per cent in 2019.

This, she noted, was the weakest growth over the last decade.

The minister said, “I issued a statement on behalf of Africa Group 1 Constituency on the priorities of our countries and how the current global slowdown has impacted our economies.”

She also said, “I urged the Fund to consider proffering country specific policies that will address the issue of high interest rates in our countries.”