Following the easing in the headline inflation rate, a renowned finance expert in the country has advised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to halt the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) in the next month meeting.
Recall that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) report on Thursday disclosed that the nation’s inflation rate dropped to 33.40% in July, relative to the 34.19% recorded in the Month of June, 2024.
This is even as it disclosed that food inflation rate also dropped to 39.54% from the 40.87% recorded in June 2024.
Having done 800 basis points between February and July this year to tame the inflation, the Professor of Finance and Capital Market at the Nasarawa State University, Uche Uwaleke, said, the time is now ripe for the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the CBN to pause the hike of the MPR.
Prof. Uwaleke in a Chat with TheFact Daily on Thursday noted that the easing in the headline inflation rate was due chiefly to the moderation in food inflation occasioned by the harvest season.
He explained that the drought reported in many parts of the North partly explains the high rate of food inflation in States like Sokoto (46.26%) and Jigawa (46.05%).
Noting that rural inflation rate also increased in the month of July.
‘What all these point to is that it is time for the CBN to recognize the real pressure points and shift some attention to how the fiscal authorities can be supported to boost food production beginning with a halt in MPR hike next month”, he said.
