The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has stated that it must first tackle the rising inflation before there could be talks of economic growth in the country.
This was stated by the acting Director of the Banking Supervision Department of CBN, Dr. Adetona Adedeji.
Adedeji made the statement on Friday while speaking at the CBN’s second episode of the talk podcast on its YouTube page.
The Director affirmed that CBN’s decision is to prioritize the combat against inflation. He stated that the fight is important before tackling rising unemployment rates in the country.
Adedeji, therefore, emphasized that the Central Bank’s primary goal is to curb inflation. He, however, acknowleded the potential for impacts in other areas.
He said, “The ultimate objective is for us to combat inflation. That is what the Central Bank is doing today. Whatever it takes to fight inflation, we are going to do that. It may have some impact in some areas.
“We can’t fight two things at the same time. There will be trade-offs. If you are fighting inflation, you can’t fight unemployment simultaneously. Even if you fight unemployment, it cannot reach the desired level. So, you have to choose either to fight inflation or unemployment. These two are macroeconomic objectives that are very critical to the development of the economy.
“But we are saying, if we are talking of economic growth, it is because the economy is still relevant and available. Which is why you are talking of economic growth. But if you look at an economy hit by inflation, you will not even talk of economic growth.
“So, it is essential that we concentrate and fight inflation. By bringing inflation down, we start talking of economic growth,” he said.
Meanwhile, notwithstanding the CBN consistently raising interest rates, the country’s inflation has increased to 33.20 per cent in March.
source: Daily Post
