The Guardian
Nigerians have been struggling with some unpleasant news lately, especially from the National Bureau of Statistics. Many were however not jolted by the NBS latest reports, which showed that Nigeria’s inflation rate surged to 18.17%, amid high food prices, the highest in four years.
Also accompanying the inflation figure was NBS reports showing consumption expenditure of Nigerian households fell in full-year 2020, while that of the government increased during the same period. It was also learned that the disposable income declined in Q4 of 2020. At the time consumption expenditure dwindled among Nigerians, that of government rose to 61.58% in 2020.
Stakeholders have expressed concerns about the country’s mounting inflationary pressure on static household incomes citing the need to address causal factors before it becomes unsustainable.
Indeed, food inflation, a closely watched index spiked to 22.95% from 21.79% recorded in the previous month, as food prices and cost of transportation get out of the reach of the average Nigerian whose incomes have stagnated or even become irregular in many cases.
The current 18.17% inflation rate recorded yesterday by the NBS, is a far departure from the Federal Government’s 11.95 per cent inflation target for the year as contained in the fiscal year 2021 Appropriation Act and remains the highest since January of 2017, amid the continued impact of the coronavirus that has also induced a slump in oil prices and weakened the naira.
Specifically, the inflation rate for the month of March 2021, rose to 18.17% from 17.33% recorded in February 2021, representing 0.82% points higher than the February figures,” the NBS report said.
It further explained that: “On a month-on-month basis, the food sub-index increased by 1.9% in March 2021, up by 0.01% points from 1.89% recorded in February 2021. The rise in the food index was caused by a hike in prices of bread and cereals, potatoes, yam, and other tubers, meat, vegetables, fish, oils and fats, and fruits.”
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) in its reaction noted that the mounting inflationary pressure is a troubling phenomenon.
