The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, has said that the Nigerian economy is moving in the right direction as policies of the new administration has started slowing down food inflation.
The minister spoke virtually on Channels Television’s Business Incorporated programme on Tuesday from Washington DC where he is attending the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings.
Prices of food and basic commodities have gone through the roof in the last weeks, as Nigerians battle one of the country’s toughest economic crises sparked by the current government’s twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of forex windows.
On Monday, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) report showed that the food inflation rate in March 2024 stood at 3.62%, showing a decline of 0.17% from February 2024, when it was 3.79%. But despite the drop recorded by the NBS, many Nigerians have lamented that the reduction has not reflected in the cost of basic food items like garri, millet, yam, bread coupled with energy and housing costs.
Though the naira has appreciated against the dollar in recent weeks, gaining over 40%, from about N1,900/$ to about N1,100/$1 now, inflation rate stood at 33.20% for March 2024 and interest rate at 24.75%.
Credit: channelstv.com
