Nigeria Inflation: Experts weigh govt’s efforts as prices of goods, services escalate

Economic experts have lamented the propensity of rising Nigeria’s inflation as prices of goods and services rose for the 10th time in November to 21.47 from 21.09 per cent in the prior month.

On Thursday, the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, said the country’s food inflation rate rose to 24.13 per cent compared to 17.21 per cent in 2021.

It stated that on a year-on-year basis, Urban inflation rose to 22.09 per cent in November from 21.63 per cent in October. On the other hand, Rural Inflation stood at 20.88 per cent compared to 20.57 per cent in the prior Month.

NBS attributed the increase in food inflation to a rise in prices of bread and cereals, oil and fat, potatoes, yam and other tubers, Food products n.e.c, and fish.

In a chat on Thursday, an Accounting and Financial Development don at Lead City University, Ibadan, Prof Godwin Oyedokun, said the persistent increase in Nigeria’s inflation rate indicates that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is not doing well in the economy.

He says, “The level of inflation we have today is only obeying the reality in this country; unless the fundamentals change, the rate will continue to increase.

“The rate of inflation is a report sheet of the activities of the government; it shows that the government is not doing what is expected of it. Nobody should compare the rate with that of Ghana; we aren’t the same. We can’t say because ours is 21.47 per cent is a justification of the government’s wrong approach. I pray that our leaders do something quickly to stop the situation from degenerating into that of Ghana. Things are not working as they should; the CBN should bring out urgent solutions”, he said.

Similarly, the former President of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, Prof Segun Ajibola, said the increased inflation is induced by the rising cost of production in Nigeria