Inflation rises to 17%, as govt promises better days

Nigeria’s annual inflation rate has maintained its upward rise hitting 17.1 per cent from 16.5 per cent recorded in June, without any sign of improvement in the proceeding quota

It is also estimated that the earliest recovery from the present economic recession will be between 2020 and 2023.

Also, the country’s food inflation rose from 15.8 per cent in June to 16.3 per cent in July, just as scarcity of the dollar, has refused to reverse despite measures by the regulatory agencies.

In the past two months, supported by the official data, dollar bonds fell across the graph curve to its lowest level, leading to the economy contracting by 2.06 per cent in the second quarter.

Even foreign investors, who had earlier indicated zeal to return to Nigeria, are maintaining a wait-and-look attitude on the development.

The unstable state of the county’s economy has attracted international rating agencies to downgrade Nigeria, Africa’s once biggest economy, as having faced its worst first recession in 25 years.

There is however hope in official quarters that 2020 to 2023 might be the timeframe for Nigeria’s full recovery from its present chocked up system, with losses to be reasonably down from the present 89.42 per cent to 1.728 per cent.

This, economists stated, is possible given that the anticipation the next eight years will witness improved gross domestic product (GDP) growth from its 2.11 per cent in 2015 to its current -0.36 per cent, if attention is given to agriculture and other less tapped resources aside from oil.

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According to Tradeweb, a rating agency, most government bonds would have been majorly settled between 2021 while 2018 will witness a recovery of about 1.65 per cents GDP.

However, the data from NBS showed that non-oil sector decline caused weaker naira currency while lower oil prices dragged the oil sector down.

Meanwhile, the federal government stated that the just released figures by the National Bureau of Statistics only confirms a temporary decline, an is indicates an hopeful expectation in the country’s economic trajectory.

A statement from the vice president’s office signed by Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant-Media & Publicity noted that besides the growth recorded in the agriculture and solid mineral sectors, the “Nigerian economy in response to the policies of the Buhari presidency is also doing better than what the IMF had estimated with clear indications that the second half of the year would be even much better.”

Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters, Dr. Adeyemi Dipeolu said: “A close look at the data shows that this outcome was mostly due to a sharp contraction in the oil sector due to huge losses of crude oil production as a result of vandalisation and sabotage.

“However, the rest of the Q2 data is beginning to tell a different story. There was growth in the agricultural and solid minerals sectors which are the areas in which the Federal Government has placed particular priority.”

According to him “The picture that emerges, barring unforeseen shocks, is that the areas given priority by the Federal Government are beginning to respond with understandable time lags to policy initiatives. Indeed, as the emphasis on capital expenditure begins to yield results and the investment/GDP numbers increase, the growth rate of the Nigerian economy is likely to improve further.”

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