By Giwa SHILE
An economist, Mr Moses Igbrude, has urged the monetary authority to inject more funds into the real sector to boost production and reduce inflation rate.
Igbrude, Chief Executive of Ogu Investment, made the remark in an in Lagos on Friday.
The economist expressed optimism that injecting more funds into the real sector by the apex bank would change the narratives of the economy.
He also urged the government to extend the allocation of money to other parts of the agriculture sector beyond the anchor borrowers schemes for rice cultivation.
“Some of the funds should be given to farmers especially in the cash crop space because of their contribution to the economy.
“The sector is one that has the capacity to rake in huge foreign earners, but our leaders have not given it the best commitment it deserves,’’ Igbrude said.
The economist said government must continue to innovate in the agricultural sector in order to create food security in the country.
He, however, appealed to government to slow down the National Social Investment Programmes (NSIV) for traders in order not to increase the inflation rate.
“Giving loose funds for traders will increasing the money in circulation, especially when general election is very close.
“We expect government to support the traders to approach micro finance banks which will manage their risk,” Igbrude said.
The economist further urged the monetary authority to continue to intervene in the Investment and Export (IE) windows in order to manage the foreign exchange market.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday said that inflation rate in October dropped to 11.26 per cent from 11.28 per cent in September.
According to NBS Consumer Price Index (CPI), food prices had a negative inflation between September and October.
“On month-on-month basis, the headline index increased by 0.74 per cent in October, down by 0.09 per cent points from the rate recorded in September (0.83) per cent.
