The headline Consumer Price Index will decline marginally to 7.95 per cent for February, down from 8.0 per cent in January, according to a report by Financial Derivatives Company Limited, a Nigeria-based economic research and financial advisory firm.
The NBS announces yesterday that inflation dropped to 7.7% for February.
The firm also predicted the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee, which commences its two-day meeting on Monday (today) at the CBN head office in Abuja, may devalue the naira by N5.
The Chief Executive Officer, FDC, Mr. Bismarck Rewane, said the MPC would be more anticipatory in its deliberations under a care-taker leadership under Mrs. Sarah Alade.
He said,
“The MPC will be more anticipatory and strategic in its deliberations under a care-taker leadership. We expect the MPC to be very aggressive in its mopping up and push the CRR to the maximum level. This will be complemented by tweaking the private sector CRR from 12 to 15 per cent. The allowable band for naira trading may be shifted from the current $(N150—160) to a $(N155—165). In effect a N5 crawling peg to the downside (naira depreciation). All other markets will react in line with their interest rate sensitivity or convexity. Most bond traders and other fixed income securities holders have already priced in an interest rate increase into their sentiments and portfolios.”
https://www.punchng.com/business/money/report-predicts-naira-devaluation-as-mpc-meets-today/
