Dear Subscriber,

Naira splash & Ramadan push tomato prices higher (₦25,000)

During the naira cash saga, the price of a 50kg bag of tomatoes dropped by 6.25% to ₦15,000 as its high perishability forced traders to lower price. However, this month, its price rose to ₦25,000 from ₦19,000 in March due to the comingling of old and new naira notes and rising demand for fruits and vegetables stemming from the Ramadan period. Other domestic commodities with high perishability, such as pepper, also saw price increases after declining in the previous months.

OPEC+ increases its supply cut

Shockingly, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies agreed to increase their global oil supply cut by 1.66mbpd after their meeting on April 3. This brings their total supply cut to 3.66mbpd. The news caused oil prices to surge by over 5%, with Brent price climbing to $84.77pb from $79.89pb at the end of March.  Meanwhile, oil supply shortages and their attendant increase in global energy costs that will continue to stoke inflation have aggravated fears of more aggressive rate hikes by the US Fed, thereby worsening global recession fears.

We’ll keep watching these events closely.

In the meantime, here’s the download link to the analysis of the economic implications of these events on the Nigerian economy.

Enjoy your read!