Macroeconomic Report & Economic Updates
February 1, 2017
Nigeria Economic Review
Global economic growth remained
fairly stable in 2016Q3 with baseline projections for global growth at 3.1 percent and 2.4
percent by International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank respectively.
Growth in developed countries was moderate but unevenly distributed: while the
U.S and the UK showed improvements, growth in other economies remained tepid.
Among emerging countries, India witnessed higher growth while growth in China
remained constant but the Chinese Yuan continued to appreciate. Given that
India is Nigerias major crude oil importer, improving economic conditions in
India may translate into rising demand for Nigerias crude oil. However, the
continuous appreciation of the Yuan poses significant inflationary threat in
Nigeria given the high level of imports from China. Subdued global demand, weak
trade, uncertainties in commodity prices and consequences of the Brexit were
the key constraining factors to growth over the period. In addition, growth in
Sub-Saharan African countries remained generally slow on the account of low
commodity price, political turmoil, and inconsistent government policies.
Related
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 3)
Recently released inflation rate report by the NBS shows a further decline in consumer price index in December 2017. At 15.37 percent, the CPI was 0.53 percentage points lower than the 15.90 percent recorded in November 2017. The food sub-index decreased to 19.42 percent from 20.21 percent, indicating reduced pressure on food prices in the review period. Core sub-index fell slightly to 12.1 percent from 12.21 percent in the preceding month. Going forward, the ability of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to control inflation in 2018 may be hampered by monetary injections by the government and politicians towards budgetary expenditure and election campaigns, respectively.