KPMG Nigeria has forecasted that the ongoing inflationary pressure in Nigeria is expected to persist until the end of 2023.
In its November report titled ‘Macroeconomics Review H1 2023 & Outlook for H2 2023,’ the multinational firm highlighted the continuous rise in headline inflation, reaching 26.72 percent in September 2023, marking the ninth consecutive increase this year.
The report projects that the inflationary trend will continue until December 2023, with KPMG anticipating headline inflation to rise to about 30 percent by the end of this year.
According to the firm, factors such as the depreciation of the naira, fuel subsidy removal’s inflationary impact on input prices and production costs, and imported inflation contribute to this projection.
KPMG also provided insights into the Nigerian economy, expecting a growth rate of 2.6 percent in 2023.
This forecast is lower than both the revised World Bank’s 2023 forecast of 2.8 percent and the 3.1 percent growth rate achieved in 2022.
The firm attributes the weak growth in 2023 to factors such as the naira redesign policy, low crude oil output, high inflation affecting consumer demand, and the private sector’s weak growth due to substantial foreign exchange losses reported by corporate organizations in the first half of 2023.