Dear Subscriber,

Christmas is in the air but stay productive

The days before Christmas are always tough on the working class. It is characterized typically as a time of declining marginal productivity. Research shows that productivity drops by about 5% this time of the year. This is because workers are distracted by planning family outings and visiting old friends.  Who can blame them? After working like Trojans all year, employees want to sit back and relax. It is a lull period because many companies have closed for the year except for stocktaking. The Lifestyle Section of this Digest contains tips on how to stay creative this holiday season.

Festive demand, higher inflation, lower productivity

The festive season could also blow a hole in the consumer pocket especially with inflation at 11.85%. The supply gap, which is the primary reason for higher commodity prices, may not be unconnected with the number of public holidays in Nigeria. It is commonly believed that the numerous holidays is the reason for Nigeria’s negative labour productivity growth (-0.8%) and declining total factor productivity growth (-0.5%). In 2019, workers were glad to get 14 public holidays off work, which was 7.7% more than they had last year. However, these holidays could have cost Nigeria $17.22bn in GDP size.

In this Xmas edition of the Unity bank digest, you will find the usual mix of economic and social news such as Moody’s outlook downgrade for Nigeria, the early passage of the 2020 budget as well as social gist.

It promises to be a great read.

Enjoy!