The Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, CPPE, Dr. Muda Yusuf has warned that the rising cost of diesel and foreign exchange volatility will drive Nigeria’s inflation higher in 2022.
Nigeria’s May 2022 inflation figures, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, rose to 17.71 per cent, while food inflation is currently 19.5 per cent.
He made this point while providing his perspective on “Rising Inflation in Nigeria and the Need for a Productive Economy.”
He said urgent steps are needed to address these problems that are significant drivers of domestic inflation. Speaking on concerns raised by the World Bank of one million additional Nigerians sliding into the poverty index, he pointed out it was a no-brainer as the nation is heading towards stagflation.
According to him, the nominal income of many Nigerians has stagnated, while others do not have any source of income.
He believed the country was heading towards stagflation. “The exchange rate is also a major concern as the naira is weakening daily, while insecurity adversely affects production, especially in the agriculture sector.”
He cited the example of the federal government’s borrowing from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through Ways and Means, now N19trn, as disturbing and a violation of the CBN act.
The CEO of CPPE called on the government to accelerate the refineries’ rehabilitation and support the Dangote Petrochemical Refinery complex.
