The continuous increase in food inflation now at 40.2% has further worsened the welfare of Nigerians, as food becomes more expensive. The latest Selected Food Prices Watch for March 2024 by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the average price of 1kg of locally produced rice stood at N1340.74. This represents an increase of about 152.93% YoY from N530.08 recorded in March 2023 and a 9.63% increase MoM. The report also highlighted that the average price of 1kg of beef boneless increased by 73.78% YoY from N2479.61 to N4309.16 and 17.91% MoM; Beans brown also increased by 106.78% YoY from N596.96 in March 2023 to N1234.40 in March 2024 and 4.79% MoM.

This snapshot for May 2024 provides trends, and insights on key macroeconomic indicators such as Inflation, foreign reserves, currency in circulation and crude oil prices.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in a recent letter, has announced the reduction of the Loan-to-Deposit Ratio (LDR) of commercial banks from 75 percent to 50 percent, indicating a decline of 15 percentage points. The LDR, a tool used by the CBN to influence the lending behaviour of commercial banks, is the ratio of a bank’s total loans to its total deposits. A low LDR means banks will lend out smaller portions of its deposits, and vice versa. The central bank’s move to reduce the value of LDR is part of its approach to maintain monetary tightening in the economy.

According to the NBS latest labour survey, a total of 617,503 individuals were subjected to forced labour in their current job in 2022. This translates to a prevalence rate of 5.2 out of every 1000 individuals. Disaggrageting forced labour by gender, 451,300 were male and 166,203 were female, indicating a higher likelihood of men falling victims of forced labour than women. Age-wise distribution shows 191,418 individuals fall within the 18-29 age group, 317,052 in 30-49 age group, and 99,391 in the age group above 50 years. Urban areas exhibit a higher prevalence rate of 6.0% compared to a 4.7% in the rural area with 270,546 individuals affected in the urban areas and 346,958 in the rural areas.

According to the Nigeria Electricity Report for Q4 2023, revenue collected by the DISCOs during the period was N294.95 billion, an increase from N260.16 billion in Q3 2023. The increment in revenue is associated with two factors – an increase in customers and electricity supply. The number of customers grew by 3.4% to 12.12 million in Q4 2023 from 11.71 million in Q3 2023. Likewise, the electricity supply grew by 12.2% to 6,432. (Gwh) in Q4 2023 from 5,732 (Gwh) in the previous quarter. However, the rate of increase in revenue generation is likely to be hampered by low metering rates. As of Q4 2023, 46% of the 12.12 million customers are metered. Recently, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) approved a new tariff affecting only Band A.