Tinubu’s 15% Inflation Goal for 2025 Aspirational — Economist, Rewane

Economist, Bismarck Rewane has characterized President Bola Tinubu’s 15% inflation target for 2025 as overly optimistic, describing it as “aspirational” and “bullish.”

Rewane made the statement during an appearance on Channels Television’s Business Morning segment of the Sunrise Daily breakfast program on Thursday.

Naija News recalls that in his 2025 budget presentation to the National Assembly on December 18, 2024, President Tinubu expressed confidence that Nigeria’s inflation rate, which had risen to 34.6%, would drop to 15% by the end of the year 2025.

However, Rewane questioned the feasibility of this target, suggesting that a more realistic expectation would be a reduction to around 27% or 25%.

“Well, the target is an aspiration; the reality that we think is inflation could reduce from approximately 35% to somewhere like 27% or 25% but a 15% rate on inflation is very bullish and aspirational but we are free to have our aspirations.

“We deal in the world of reality and in the world of reality, we see more of 27% to 25%. I would rather bet on that than bet on much more optimistic scenarios,” he said.

Rewane emphasized that, based on the current economic environment, his outlook was more in line with a reduction to the mid-20s range rather than the much lower figure proposed by Tinubu.

When President Tinubu assumed office in May 2023, Nigeria’s inflation rate stood at 22.41%, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

However, inflation soared to 34.6% by November 2024, a jump that many economists attribute to the twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and the unification of foreign exchange rates implemented by the current administration.