Somalia's GDP expanding to 3.1 percent in 2018

NAIROBI- Somalia’s economic growth is expected to pick up in 2018 as it recovers from drought that had reduced farming output, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.

It said it projected gross domestic product at 3.1 percent this year from 2.3 percent in 2017. Somalia exports bananas and also produces sorghum.

“Economic activity in 2018 is recovering from the 2016–17 drought. A favourable rainy season is supporting the economic recovery, particularly in the agricultural and livestock sectors; this is leading to a decline in food prices,” the fund said in a statement.

The IMF expects inflation to reach 3.5 percent this year, down from 5.5 percent in 2016.

Somalia has been in turmoil since 1991, when clan-based warlords overthrew dictator Siad Barre and then turned on each other. Over the past decade it has also been hit by an insurgency waged by al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab, as well as famine and maritime piracy.