Macroeconomic Report & Economic Updates
August 19, 2016
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 35)
Recent report in the media highlights that Nigerias
GDP has dropped to $296 billion in 2016, in contrast to the $481 billion
recorded in 20151 and Nigeria has lost its position as Africas
largest economy to South Africa. This conclusion was based on the computation
of GDP with current naira-dollar exchange rate. However, while the naira has
significantly lost its official value since the adoption of a flexible exchange
rate, estimating GDP merely with a single exchange rate figure (rather than its
yearly average) cannot be regarded as an appropriate method to conclude on Africas
largest economy.
Related
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 10)
Nigerias inflation rate remained above
CBNs bandwidth of 6-9 per cent. Specifically, the inflation rate increased
slightly from 9.55 percent in December 2015 to 9.62 percent in January 20165.
The Core sub-index remains the main driver of inflation in Nigeria. The higher
prices of items in the Core sub-index such as clothing and foot wears are
reflective of higher domestic production costs as a result of the decline in the
value of the naira relative to the dollar. However, in the period, the price
increase was moderated by the stable price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS). Going
forward, without any sustainable policy measure to prevent the further
depreciation of the naira, inflation may exceed the current single digit
inflation rate in the near term.