THE National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has disclosed that the inflation figure in Nigeria surged to 18.60 per cent in June, from the May 17.71 per cent figure, on a year-on-year basis.
The NBS disclosed this in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) June 2022 report that it released today.
The surge, by implication, would push more Nigerians, whose incomes have remained stagnant, into more poverty as they struggle with reduced purchasing power.
“Income is still stagnant, and price will increase because of the inflation. With an 18.60 per cent inflation surge, the level of economic activities will slow down, and many companies may even reduce their work force,” an Associate Consultant to the British Department for International Development, (DFID) and economist, Celestine Okeke, said.
The June 2022 inflation rise was 0.84 per cent points higher, compared to the corresponding figure in June 2021, which was 17.75 per cent.
This means that the headline inflation rate increased in the month of June 2022, when compared to the same month in the previous year (June 2021).
The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the 12- month period, which ended in June 2022, over the average of the CPI for the previous 12-month period was 16.54 per cent, showing a 0.62 per cent increase compared to 15.93 per cent recorded in June 2021.
Some industry watchers believe Nigeria is unlikely to come out of its current fiscal mess soon, as many of the country’s policy makers who are politicians shift attention to the 2023 general elections.
“I don’t trust the government to do any serious reform now, as we approach election year. You look at the rising debt of over N41 trillion and the N4 trillion subsidy payments in oil sector. If urgent measures are not taken, we may be in this mess longer than expected,” an oil sector governance expert, Henry Ademola Adigun, told THE ICIR.
Adigun advised the Federal government to push urgent policy reforms to rescue the economy from its current state.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.