By Simon Akoje
Lagos – An economist, Mr Moses Igbrude, has advised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to enhance domestic capacity to hedge the rising inflation.
Igbrude, the Chief Executive Officer of Ogu Investment, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos, advised the monetary authorities to improve domestic capacity by supporting the real sector.
“The apex bank must maintain its various agriculture intervention schemes to have adequate food produced. Sufficient food production is one of the best ways of reducing inflation,’’ he said.
The expert commended the closure of the border in spite of its impact on rising inflation.
“The closure of the border is good because no government will allow neighbouring states to evade payable duties, especially now that the government is contending with scarce revenue to meet competing infrastructural needs,’’ he said.
Igbrude said that the border closure had led to increased patronage of locally made goods in the country.
NAN reports that the National Bureau of Statistics reported higher inflation rate in November with the Consumer Price Index rising by 0.24 percentage points year-on-year from 11.61 per cent in October to 11.85 per cent in November.
The November inflation rate of 11.85 per cent was the highest recorded by the country in the last 19 months.
The last time the country’s inflation was higher than 11.85 per cent was in April 2018 when inflation rate was put at 12.48 per cent.
On the food index, the NBS report said food inflation rose by 14.48 per cent in November from the 14.09 per cent recorded in October.
(NAN)
