By Abidemi Samuel
Kindly share this news
A tough festive season lies ahead for Nigerians as the country’s headline and food inflation rates continue to worsen. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has announced that Nigeria’s inflation rate rose by 0.72% on a month-on-month basis to 34.60% in November. This is a significant increase from the 28.20% recorded in the same period last year.
Food inflation also skyrocketed to 39.93% in November, up from 39.19% in October. The rising energy and transportation costs have heavily impacted the country’s inflation rate. Economists and financial analysts believe that the government’s interventions to tame inflation are not enough, leading to its continued rise.
Prof. Segun Ajibola, former President and Chairman of the Council of Chartered Institute of Bankers, and Muda Yusuf, the Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, expressed their concerns about the government’s approach to addressing inflation.
According to Prof. Ajibola, the solutions to Nigeria’s worsening inflation lie more in fiscal measures, rather than the contractionary monetary stance adopted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). He emphasized that the CBN’s monetary interventions have not made a meaningful impact in taming inflation.
Muda Yusuf also stressed the need for fiscal responses to inflation, such as a more robust transportation subsidy, tax waivers, and other fiscal policies capable of bringing down inflation. He lauded the federal government’s initiative to provide free train services but called for a more sustainable and broader intervention across sectors.
Kindly share this news!!!