Rating agency Agusto & Co. has issued a scathing assessment of Nigeria’s economic management over the past eight years, highlighting significant shortcomings in its monthly Newsletter for January titled, “2024: A year of reckoning, turning points and balancing acts.”
In its newsletter, the agency made projections on various economic aspects, including foreign exchange, inflation, and GDP growth. It emphasized the urgent need for a coordinated fiscal policy response to address the country’s economic challenges.
Agusto & Co. expressed confidence in the current administration’s ability to steer the economy in the right direction, contrasting it with the previous administration’s perceived mismanagement.
The agency stated, “This underscores the necessity for a coordinated monetary and fiscal policy response. We believe that striking a strategic balance between economic policies and external factors will shape the trajectory of the Nigerian economy in 2024.”
However, it cautioned that discontinuing intervention finance, coupled with insecurity across the Middle Belt and North-West regions, as well as heightened tensions in the Niger Republic, would significantly impact crop production in the current year.
Regarding the Naira exchange rate against the USD, Agusto & Co. projected a convergence at N1100/$ on the official market by the end of 2024. The exchange rate is currently over N1400/$ to the USD on the official market.
The agency also noted that beyond the official statement announcing the end of the intervention finance program, Governor Yemi Cardoso of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has defended the current policy stance differently on various occasions.
Agusto & Co.’s critical assessment underscores Nigeria’s economic challenges and the need for robust policy measures to drive sustainable growth and stability.
