Inflation set to drop to 21% in Nigeria – Cardoso

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, has reassured Nigerians that the nation’s inflation rate will decline to 21%.

He revealed this on Tuesday while briefing lawmakers at the sectoral debate on the economy before the House of Representatives.

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 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

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.

Nigeria’s inflation has been on the rise for 11 consecutive months, reaching its peak in December 2023, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The annual inflation rate rose to 28.92 per cent in December from 28.20 per cent in November. The headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.72 per cent points when compared to the November 2023 headline inflation rate.