the Center for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has urged the Federal Government to tame supply-side pressures on Nigerian inflation by granting favorable import duties on intermediate products for industrialists, especially those in food processing.
This was revealed by CPPE CEO Dr. Muda Yusuf in a statement seen by Nairametrics. According to him, Nigeria’s high inflation rate is a major macroeconomic concern for many stakeholders in the Nigerian economy.
Recall that Nigerian inflation accelerated to 21.09% in October, from 20.77 in September.
Causes of inflation: He identified some of the factors that caused the increase in inflation, including the depreciation of the exchange rate, the increase in transportation costs, the illiquidity of the foreign exchange market, an increase in the cost of diesel, and many others.
- “We have yet to see a reduction in the key factors that fuel inflation. Some of these factors are global, others are domestic. They are a combination of structural and political issues.
- “These factors include exchange rate depreciation, rising transportation costs, logistical challenges, the illiquidity of the foreign exchange market, the rising cost of diesel, climate change, insecurity in many farming communities, and structural bottlenecks in production”. He explained.
He added that these are largely supply-side and policy concerns. The tightening of monetary policy in most of the world’s economies, especially the major economies, is also driving imported inflation and exchange rate depreciation.
- “AAccelerated growth in CBN financing of the fiscal deficit is increasing liquidity in the economy with consequences for skyrocketing inflation, as mounting inflationary pressures cause citizens’ purchasing power to weaken as real incomes erode and the increase in the incidence of poverty. he warned.
Other causes of the increase in inflation according to the CPPE include the escalation of production costs, which has a negative impact on profitability; Erosion of shareholder value in many companies; Investor confidence weakened and manufacturing capacity utilization decreased.
Coping with high inflation: The CPPE chief urged that tackling inflation requires urgent government intervention to address challenges besetting the supply side of the economy, including production and productivity constraints, correcting dysfunctional foreign exchange policy and instituting fiscal reforms to curb rising deficit spending.
- “To give some relief to producers and citizens, the government could modify tariff policies by granting import rights on favorable terms to intermediate products for industrialists, especially those in the food processing segments of the agricultural value chain. ”. added.