Expert says more productivity, FX will reduce inflation rate

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November 16, 2017 2:58 PM

He said that supporting the agricultural programmes and having more staple food schemes would reverse our food import and boost our capacity locally.

An Economist, Mr Chris Nemedia, on Thursday, said that sustaining the improvement in productive sector, agricultural and continued availability in foreign exchange window would steadily reduce the inflation rate.

Nemedia, a former Director, Economic Research, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

“Besides the rice schemes in northern parts of the country more programmes must be made in various parts of our country in order to crate food security and at affordable price to reduce food importation."

“However more should be focus on processing of various foods so as to reduce the attraction of foreign processed food which are demanding huge foreign currencies to import,’’ he said.

Nemedia, said sustaining the multiple foreign exchange windows would lead to more convergence within the official market and the parallel market, however bringing down the inflation rate further.

He also said that the inflation figures would come down further with injecting more funds to stimulate the productive sector of the economy.

“Government should give more support in form of credit facilities especially for the industrial sector so as to change the narrative and create wealth in the system."

“However more so Nigerians should learn to patronise domestic products in order for the wealth made in the country to be sustained here,’’ he said.

He said that Nigerians should encourage the governed across board to fix the infrastructural deficit so as to drive the development of the economy and automatically bring down the inflation rate in the process.

NAN reports that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says inflation rate, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), has further dropped to 15.91 per cent in Oct. from 15.98 recorded in Sept.

The NBS disclosed this in its “CPI Oct. 2017 Report’’ released on Wednesday in Abuja.

The CPI, which measured inflation, increased by 15.91 per cent (year on year) in Oct. 2017.

According to the bureau, this is 0.07 per cent points lower than the rate recorded in Sept. (15.98) per cent.

It said the index made it the ninth consecutive decline or slowdown in the inflation rate, though still positive in headline year-on-year inflation, since January.

According to the report, increases have been recorded in all the classification of individual consumption by purpose (COICOP) divisions that yielded the Headline Index.

The NBS said there was an average headline year on year inflation for the first five months of the year (January to May 2017) which stood at 17.45 per cent.

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