Expert reveals solution to Nigeria’s rising inflation

A Financial Inclusion/Wealth Management expert, Mr Idakolo Gbolade, has revealed the solution to ending Nigeria’s rising inflation.

Less than 24hrs ago, the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, released its October inflation figure, standing at 21.09% from 20.77% in the prior month.

Also, food inflation skyrocketed from 23.34% to 23.72% in the period under review.

Speaking on recurring Nigeria’s inflation rate in a chat with PRESSINFORMAT on Wednesday, Idakolo said the Central of Nigeria, CBN, should review its policy framework to bring inflation down.

He highlighted that the government should shun the bid to take additional loans; instead, it needs to look inward for the development of capital projects which will impact Nigerians directly.

He noted that CBN needs to extend the Naira redesign plan by at least a month to avoid likely economic disruption.

Idakolo added that CBN’s policy should be more attractive to foreign investors so that Nigeria can experience improved foreign inflows that would boost the nation’s reserves.

He also urged CBN to harmonize its foreign exchange rate regime so that the official rate will be in tandem with the parallel market.

He says, “The present economic policies of the government cannot stem inflation but will aggravate it. The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN monetary policy framework as it has been presently implemented lacks the bite to bring down inflation.

“The revenue generation drive of the government is meeting the desired target, and it uses over 90% of its revenue for debt servicing.

“The foreign reserves are getting depleted consistently for payments of bonds due and other obligations while inflows of the needed foreign currency to save the Naira is not forthcoming. There is a high level of insecurity, unemployment and food inflation which is still not properly tackled.

“The government, as a matter of urgency, should negotiate with creditors for rescheduling/ restructuring of our loan stock to free up funds for critical development.

“The Federal Government should shelve the idea of additional loans for now and look inwards for the development of capital projects.

“The CBN policy should be more attractive to foreign investors so that we can witness more foreign inflow to shore up our reserves.

“The CBN should also urgently look into the exchange rate regime with a view of harmonizing both the official rate with that obtainable in the black market.

“The Naira redesign deadline should be extended by at least a month to reduce disruptions in the economy,” he stated.