Expect economy to return to level it was before Buhari by next year —CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has assured Nigerians that the economy will recover to the level it was before the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari next year.

Dr. Hassan Mahmud, Director of the CBN’s Monetary Policy Department, made the projection on Friday during a virtual mid-year economic assessment and forecast hosted by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria’s Centre for Financial Studies and B. Adedipe Associates.

According to him, with the full execution of the CBN recent measures aimed at boosting various sectors of the economy, inflation would fall to single digits next year.

The last time the economy had single-digit inflation was in 2015. Since then, the rate has risen substantially, from 9.5 percent in 2015 to 17.75 percent as of June 2021.

“If certain things were in place, the country would experience some positive projections in 2021 and the beginning of 2022”

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“We will also see the inflation number coming down less than 13 percent by the end of the year and further down to the NBS projection of single digit by 2022 or the middle of 2022.

“We will start seeing a downward trend in inflation numbers, particularly, headline inflation,” Mahmud added.

The CBN Director also predicted that GDP would increase by 3 percent next year, a feat that has never been accomplished by the current administration.

“Since the economy recovered from the recession in the last quarter of 2020, it had maintained a path of recovery despite certain challenges triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and insecurity.

“If the CBN forecasts for GDP growth are sustained and there is improved vaccination and the health hazards and lockdowns are not resurfacing, we will see GDP getting close to three percent by the end of 2021,” he stressed.

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