According to the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, weakening consumer demand, spiraling inflation, high energy prices, and tightening monetary policy will likely cause a recession or a significant slowdown in growth in 2023.
This was said by LCCI President Michael Olawale-Cole in Lagos at the chamber’s quarterly state of the economy press conference. He claims that the chamber’s forecast of a hard landing—which, in terms of economics, denotes a period of economic downturn—remains accurate given the numerous difficulties the Nigerian economy is currently facing.
Even though it was positive, global growth slowed by about 50% between 2019 and 2022. Noting that Nigeria’s inflation rate hit a 17-year high of 21.47 percent in November, Olawale-Cole said that with the persisting war in Ukraine and high spending by the government on the forthcoming general elections and census, the chamber foresees a further rise in the inflation rate in the short term.
“On the recent move by the CBN to redesign the naira and also place a cap on withdrawals for individuals and corporate entities, the LCCI president said that beyond the reasons and economics of currency management, the CBN had to embark on an aggressive push for a truly cashless economy to reduce the attraction to holding cash.