A recent data from the National Bureau of Statistics has shown how Nigeria’s inflation rose to 33.2 percent. Additionally, the report revealed how food inflation surpassed 40 percent in the first quarter of 2024.
This projection hued in on a recent release of its Global Economic Outlook at the International Monetary Fund/World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington D.C., the IMF which provided projections for Nigeria’s economy and highlighted a significant shift in inflation rates.
The Division Chief of the IMF Research Department, Daniel Leigh, spotlighted the impact of Nigeria’s economic reforms, including exchange rate adjustments, which led to a surge in inflation rate to 33.2 percent in March. This rise in inflation was supported by recent data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, indicating a rise to 33.2 percent, with food inflation surpassing 40 percent in the first quarter of 2024.
Leigh stated, “We see inflation declining to 23 percent next year and then 18 percent in 2026,” contrasting with the fund’s previous prediction of a single-digit (15.5 percent) inflation rate for 2025.
He further elaborated on Nigeria’s economic growth, expected to rise from 2.9 percent last year to 3.3 percent this year, attributing this expansion to the recovery in the oil sector, improved security, and advancements in agriculture due to better weather conditions and the introduction of dry season farming. Additionally, the IMF official noted a broad-based increase in Nigeria’s financial and IT sectors.
On the other hand, an official of the IMF Research Department,Pierre Olivier Gourinchas commented on the global economic landscape, mentioning the rise in oil prices partly due to geopolitical tensions and high services inflation in many countries.
Despite Nigeria’s inflation target of six to nine percent being missed for over a decade, Gourinchas stressed the importance of prioritizing bringing inflation back to target and warned of the risks posed by geo-economic fragmentation to global growth prospects, advocating for careful calibration of monetary policy.
He also highlighted changing trade linkages and potential efficiency losses in the reconfiguration of global supply chains as factors affecting global economic resilience.
