Emefiele predicts single digit inflation rate in mid-2018


Emefiele, CBN governorCBN-Governor-Godwin-Emefiele

Nigeria’s Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele said on Friday he expected inflation rate to fall at a faster pace and hit high single digit rates mid-next year.

“We are very optimistic that food prices will come down and as they come down, it will help to complement the reduction in core inflation,” Mr. Emefiele told journalists on the sidelines of the launching of 2017 banking sector report by Afrinvest West Africa Limited held  at the London Stock Exchange.

“I expected a more aggressive moderation. We are hoping that by the middle of next year we should begin to approach the high single digits,” he said, adding that around nine percent would be a good target.”

For the eighth consecutive time since January 2017, Nigeria’s inflation rate dropped to 15.98 per cent in September from 16.01 per cent recorded in August, the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, said.

According to data released by the NBS, the decline was 0.03 per cent points lower than the rate recorded in August