The Federal Government has been urged by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to keep inflation down and also grow non-oil revenue, if the economy must perform optimally and grow to its potential.
The IMF‘s Director of African Department, Abebe Aemro Selassie, disclosed the need to keep inflation down when the IMF presented its regional economic outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa in Abuja.
Selassie said IMF‘s projection that Nigeria’s economy will grow at 2.1 per cent in 2019 doesn’t reflect the potentials of the country. He then added that monetary policy needs to be calibrated with an eye to keeping the inflation down and facilitating exchange rate.
“Specifically for Nigeria, I think we see some economic recovery he said adding that growth in 2018 was close to 2 percent and 2.1 percent is projected 2019 but this is well below the potentials that this economy has.”
Government is working to improve earnings: The Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, said the Federal Government is committed to improving Government earnings, boasting that positive results are already being recorded.
Ahmed, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary Special Duty, Federal Ministry of Finance, Mohammed K. Dikwa, said the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has spent about N4.5 trillion on productive sector of the economy for the purpose of massive job creation, reduction of insecurity, and infrastructure development.
Single digit inflation is possible: The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said it’s possible for Nigeria to strike a single digit inflation before the end of the fourth quarter of 2019.
This was disclosed by the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Economic Policy Directorate, Joseph Nnanna. He added that the country is on the path to achieving price stability goal for a single level inflation.
Nigeria’s inflation expected to maintain double digit in the next one year: Despite this positive projection by the CBN’s Governor, the Nigerian apex bank has said Nigeria’s inflation rate is expected to moderate around the double-digit for the next one year.
This was revealed in the latest CBN monthly business expectation survey for the month of April.
