Nigeria Hits Pause on Curiosity Price Hikes After Inflation Revamp

(Bloomberg) — Nigeria’s central financial institution paused its steep marketing campaign of financial tightening, after an overhaul of the info used to calculate inflation confirmed it had considerably slowed.

The financial coverage committee maintained the coverage fee at 27.5%, Governor Olayemi Cardoso advised reporters in Abuja, the capital on Thursday. Eight out of 9 economists in a Bloomberg survey appropriately predicted the choice.

“The MPC famous with satisfaction latest macro financial developments,” Cardoso mentioned, citing latest stability of the naira. “The committee was unanimous in its determination to carry all parameters.”

The MPC has raised charges by a cumulative 16 proportion factors since 2022 to chill decades-high inflation and regular the naira, which has depreciated 70% in opposition to the greenback following forex reforms in 2023.

The naira has stabilized since early December buying and selling at a slim vary between 1,470 and 1,550 per greenback.

Annual inflation slowed to 24.5% in January, in contrast with 34.8% a month earlier — the final studying calculated utilizing the previous methodology.

The statistics company overhauled the buyer worth index for the primary time in 16 years and adjusted the reference yr to 2024. It additionally reweighted sure classes comparable to meals and non-alcoholic drinks and elevated the variety of gadgets within the inflation basket to 934 from 740.

–With help from Simbarashe Gumbo.

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