Next year, inflation will slow to 15%, predicts Emefiele

Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), is hopeful that the country’s inflation rate would start to decline consistently from the next year and fall to less than 15% by the end of 2023.

This was said by Emefiele on Friday at the 57th annual bankers’ dinner in Lagos. Although he acknowledged that the country’s inflation was concerning, he pointed out that other economies, including some African nations, were experiencing worse trends than Nigeria.

The governor stated, “We are confident of sustained period of disinflation in the coming months,” noting that efforts to increase supply side factors had begun to show results.

He declared that the monetary system would continue to be strict but sensitive to “evidence-based facts” regarding the economy. The real sector will be helped by the monetary policies to spur development and generate employment, he continued.

Emefiele said that the prognosis for the world economy in 2019 remained dismal. However, he remained optimistic about Nigeria’s chances of rapid development in the near future.

He claims that the durability of Nigeria’s non-oil industry has been proved by the country’s economic development, which has been aided by favorable monetary and fiscal policies.

In his lengthy discussion of the redesign of the naira, the top regulator came to the conclusion that the activity, whether “it is repainting and redesign,” is yielding the intended benefits.

He reiterated that January 31 would continue to be the cutoff date for the old banknotes and recommended anyone who were keeping cash in them to exchange them for new ones at their local banks.

To diversify the economy and protect it from outside shocks, Emefiele urged “creative decision-making,” adding that the nation need “radical reactions to aberrant occurrences.”