Some financial experts on Thursday said that single digit inflation target of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) could only be achieved with the right fiscal and monetary policies.
TBI Africa.com said that the experts said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, while reacting to March inflation figure released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday.
NBS said that the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation dropped to 11.25 per cent in March compared to the 11.31 per cent recorded in February.
It noted that the 0.06 per cent decrease in the Headline Index was reflected in all the divisions that determine inflation.
Mr Sola Oni, a chartered stockbroker and Chief Executive Officer, Sofunix Investment and Communications, said that the apex bank should pursue friendly fiscal and monetary policies for single digit inflation to be realistic.
Oni said that the Federal Government should inject funds into the economy to stimulate demand and boost purchasing power.
“Achieving single digit inflation is not a rocket science. The Federal Government should adopt the right fiscal and monetary policy through the CBN, inject funds into the system to stimulate demand and boost purchasing power.
“This will boost economic activities and enhance the much-needed goal of achieving single digit inflation,’’ Oni said.
He said that reduced inflation would increase competitiveness of the country’s products and services, encouragement of investment and better returns for savers.
Mr Moses Igbrude, Publicity Secretary, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), said that government should articulate policies and strategies to increase production, especially in the agricultural sector of the economy to reduce inflation rate.
Igbrude urged government to assist farmers on how to access cheap funds to boost production.
He also called for “improvement in infrastructure development in the area of roads so that what was being produced would be easily conveyed to those who need them at a cheaper price.
According to him, electricity and power is another area the Federal Government must urgently work upon to reduce cost of production.
Igbrude said that the masses were not feeling the impact of the drop in inflation rate due to the high cost of living occasioned by high production cost.
Mr Boniface Okezie, the National Coordinator, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, urged government to continue to invest in the agriculture sector for the trend to be sustained.
Okezie said fertilizers must get to farmers at lower rate to enhance production and reduce prices of farm produce.
He called on the Federal Government to ban the importation of things being produced in the country to reduce foreign exchange pressure.
