By Ayomide Otitoju
The Managing Director of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Bismarck Rewane, has described President Bola Tinubu’s projection of a 15% inflation rate for 2025 as “aspirational” and “bullish.” Rewane shared his views during an appearance on Channels Television’s Business Morning segment of the Sunrise Daily programme on Thursday.
During the presentation of the ₦49.7 trillion 2025 budget to the National Assembly on December 18, 2024, Tinubu expressed optimism that Nigeria’s inflation rate would drop from the current 34.6% to 15% by the end of 2025.
However, Rewane cautioned against over-optimism. “The target is an aspiration. In reality, inflation could reduce from approximately 35% to somewhere between 27% and 25%. But a 15% inflation rate is very bullish and aspirational,” he remarked. “We deal in the world of reality, and in that world, a more likely outcome is between 27% and 25%. I would rather bet on that than on overly optimistic scenarios.”
When President Tinubu assumed office in May 2023, Nigeria’s inflation rate stood at 22.41%, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). By November 2024, inflation had soared to 34.6%, an increase attributed to Tinubu’s twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and forex rate unification.
