Macroeconomic Report & Economic Updates

July 28, 2016
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 32)
The naira continued its
downward trajectory this week. Specifically, naira depreciated at the interbank
segment by 3.45 percent to N300/$; and by 3.56 percent to 378/$ at
the parallel segment. Despite the CBNs effort to support the naira
with Forwards and FOREX futures, the excess demand for dollar continues to put
pressure on the naira. Looking forward, the stabilization of exchange rate
depends on the ability of the CBN and government to attract capital inflows;
particularly by raising interest rate, tackling inflation and supporting
economy recovery.
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.
Nigeria Economic Update(Issue 31)
Recent data on Consumer
Price Index (CPI) indicates significant increase in general price level for the
sixth consecutive month. Headline inflation increased by 0.9 percentage points from
15.6 per cent recorded in May to 16.5 percent in June the highest
rate recorded since October 2005 (an 11-year high). The core sub-index
increased from 15.1 percent to 16.2 percent while the food sub-index stood at
15.3 percent, an increase of 0.4 percent from the preceding month of May. Higher
prices of domestic/imported food and other items, as well as increased energy
cost were major drivers of the increase. This is probably explained by the
exchange-rate pass-through, given the significant depreciation of the naira.