The World Bank has listed a series of macroeconomic policy missteps executed by fiscal and monetary authorities between 2015 and 2023 that pushed Nigeria’s inflation to a 28-year high.
In its latest edition of the Nigeria Development Update (NDU), the global lender explained that prior to 2015, Nigeria had a single-digit inflation rate which is in the same range as other emerging economies.
According to the Bank, these macroeconomic missteps include- Ways and Means financing of fiscal deficits by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), granting of large credits at subsidised rates to households and businesses also by Nigeria’s apex bank, banning of access to FX for importation of over 900 products, cost of maintaining an overvalued exchange rate and unbudgeted fiscal deficits.
The report stated, “From 2015, however, the CBN shifted its primary focus away from price stability – its core mandate – ostensibly towards growth objectives, by providing large amounts of credit to…