Despite the turmoil in the banking sector, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has recently relieved Eacute; its interest rates of 50 basis points to deal with the high price pressures in the country. According to Jason Tuvey, senior emerging markets economist at Capital Economics, “the lesson to be learned from the central bank meeting in Nigeria this week (as well as those in other emerging markets, such as Brazil) is that, while policymakers have recognized the uncertainty created Amidst the banking turmoil, they remain focused on combating high price pressures.”

Indeed, GDP figures in South Africa revealed that the economy contracted by 1.3% quarter-on-quarter in the last quarter of last year, while inflation figures showed that the overall rate has l& increased slightly to 7.0% year-on-year in February, driven by higher core inflation.