Nigeria’s inflation rises to 26.72 per cent
Millions of Nigerians will now struggle to afford three square meals and other necessities as the country’s headline inflation jumped to 26.72 percent in September from 25.80 percent in August 2023.
The National Bureau of Statistics September Consumer Price Index, which measures the rate of change in the price of goods and services, disclosed this on Monday.
The 26.72 percent is the highest in the ninth month of rising inflation, significantly championed by food inflation, which stood at 30.64 percent.
NBS blamed the soaring food inflation on the prices of oil and fat, bread and cereals, potatoes, yam and other tubers, fish, fruit, meat, vegetables and milk, cheese, and eggs.
A household food trader at Wuse Market, Aishat Mabe, confirmed that egg, beans, and Spaghetti increased by at least 20 percent in the last three weeks.
“A crate of eggs of 2500 last week now sells for N2900, beans, Spaghetti, and other food items had added at least a 20 percent increment in price. The situation is worrisome”, she said.
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With an already struggling Nigerian economy, the development indicates more misery for Africa’s largest economy, with over 200 million people.
Rising inflation, debt management, and a forex crisis are headaches for the barely four-month-old administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, and the new Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, certainly have a lot of work to do on the country’s economy to halt an impending poverty crisis.
Speaking with newsmen, a popular economist and former President and Chairman of the Council of Chartered Institute of Bankers, Prof Segun Ajibola, said inflation remains a monster the Tinubu Government must tackle.
According to him, Nigeria’s inflation is cost-induced, and measures other than monetary policies should be considered as a solution.
Also, Former president of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, Mazi Okechukwu Unegbu said inflation will only be tackled if the country looks inward by using its resources to tackle her problems, including reducing the cost of governance and corruption.
On his part, Dr Muda Yusuf, the Director at the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, said that CPPE high energy must be tackled to tame Nigeria’s rising inflation.
According to him, it will be difficult to tame inflation without fixing the power sector.
He called on Tinubu’s administration to declare an emergency in the country’s power and energy sectors.
Similarly, Idakolo Gbolade, Chief Executive Officer of SD & D Capital Management, said the Government needs to initiate urgent policy measures to reduce the sufferings of Nigerians.