By Eze Nkechi
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said it expects Nigeria’s inflationary pressure to ease to 26 per cent this year, as opposed all visible odds.
The fund spoke on Nigeria’s economic growth trajectory while presenting global projections from its World Economic Outlook at a news conference in Washington DC on Tuesday.
Some analysts see the projection as realistic, based on the fact that certain deciding factors are becoming favourable. For instance, Joel Onos, an economist in Lagos noted that naira has improved remarkably, and should impact on, at least imported inflation soon.
But Philip Ogwu was quick to point out that the gains so far made by the naira is premised on little.
He asked if production has increased to warrant the appreciation of the local currency?
He added that, with the increase in electrcity tariff, it is impossible for inflation to come down.
Inflation has remained a major challenge for Nigerians and continues to worsen the operations of businesses in the country.
To tame the inflationary uptick, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had raised the interest rate by 400 basis points (bps) — the largest in recent years — to 22.75 per cent on February 27.
The regulator further jacked up the monetary policy rate (MPR) by an additional 200 basis to 24.75 per cent.
