The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, has assured that Nigeria’s inflation rate will drop to 21.4% in 2024 amid the rising prices of foodstuff and other commodities.
This was made known by Cardoso when he appeared before the House of Representative to brief lawmakers at the sectoral debate on the economy on Tuesday, February 6, 2024.
Cardoso, who lamented the high cost of living in the country, however noted that Nigeria’s economy is now better than the stage President Bola Tinubu met it when he was sworn in on May 29, 2023.
What the CBN Governor is saying
Cardoso had expressed confidence that positive outcomes from the administration of Tinubu were already emerging and would further emerge in the near future.
The CBN Governor, who had admitted that the concern over the cost of living is genuine, assured that the apex bank is working tirelessly to bring a lasting solution to the problem.
Giving an outlook for 2024, he said:
- “Inflationary pressures are expected to decline in 2024 due to the CBN’s inflationary targeting policy aiming to rein in inflation to 21.4 per cent, aided by improved agricultural productivity and easy global supply chain pressures.
- “The Nigerian foreign exchange market is currently facing increased demand pressures causing a continuous decrease in the value of naira.”
Cardoso explained that the apex bank has unveiled measures to address the persistent decline in the value of the naira.
According to him, the economy must earn through export to boost the naira He said the CBN plans to instill Confidence through stability in consumer prices and the foreign exchange market.
He believes that the policy measures of the bank are expected to impact positively on inflation.
Cardoso is one of the top government officials who was summoned by the lower chamber over the state of the economy as well as the free fall of the naira recently.
Others quizzed were the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun; Minister of Budget and National Planning, Abubakar Bagudu and the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Zacch Adedeji.
What you should know
- Nairametrics had in January 2024, reported that Nigeria’s inflation rate for December rose to 28.92% from 28.20% recorded in the previous month according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) inflation report.
- The increase marks the eleventh consecutive increase in the inflation rate from February 2023.
- The headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.72 per cent points when compared to the November 2023 headline inflation rate.
- Also, in December 2023, the year-on-year food inflation rate surged to 33.93%, primarily driven by increased prices of Oil and fat, Meat, Bread and Cereals, Potatoes, Yam & Other Tubers, Fish, and Milk, Cheese, and Eggs.
- This represents a notable increase of 10.18% points compared to the rate registered in December 2022 (23.75%).
- Meanwhile, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), had in its 2024 Macroeconomic Outlook said that Nigeria’s inflation is projected to drop to 21.5% in 2024.
