Inflation to reduce to 13% by end of 2021 if lockdowns don’t return – CBN
The Central Bank of Nigeria has forecasted that Nigeria’s inflation rate will slow down to 13% by the end of the year, stating that there are multiple areas that should excite investors and stakeholders as the economy returns to growth if Nigeria sustains vaccination rates and does not return to a lockdown.
This was disclosed by Dr Hassan Mahmud, Director, Monetary Policy Department of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the Mid-year Economic Review and Outlook 2021, organised by the CIBN Centre for Financial Studies, in collaboration with B. Adedipe Associates, on Friday in Lagos.
What the Director of Monetary Policy said;
“Also, if the CBN forecasts for GDP growth are sustained and there is improved vaccination and the health hazards and lockdowns are not resurfacing, we will see GDP getting close to three per cent by the end of 2021.
“We will also see the inflation number coming down less than 13 per cent by the end of the year and further down to the NBS projection of single-digit by 2022 or the middle of 2022.
“We will start seeing a downward trend in inflation numbers particularly, headline inflation,” he said.
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He added that sustained policies would also improve FX, insecurity and other factors required to return the economy towards positive trajectory by 2022, citing that food inflation would also drop substantially if the supply side of it is addressed.
What you should know
Recall Nairametrics reported that Nigeria’s inflation rate dropped further in the month of June 2021 to 17.75% from 17.93% recorded in the month of May 2021.
Food inflation stood at 21.83% in June 2021 compared to 22.28% in May 2021 while core inflation which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce dropped from 13.15% recorded in May 2021 to 13.09% in the review period.
