NBS Inflation Report Does Not Reflect Current Economic Realities, Says Yusuf

An economic think-tank, the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprises has said that the newly released Consumer Price Index Report does not reflect the inflationary pressure that Nigerian households and businesses are battling.

The National Bureau of Statistics had released the inflation report for the month of February where it said inflation increased from 15.6 per cent in January to 15.70 per cent in February 2022.

The official data also revealed that year on year, inflation decelerated to 15.70 recorded last month from the 17.33 per cent recorded in February 2021.

Food inflation dropped to 17.11 per cent in February 2022, from the 21.79 per cent recorded in January 2022.

In the last one year, NBS computation revealed that food prices have plunged from 21.29 per cent recorded in February 2021 to 17.11 per cent in February 2022.

The Chief Executive Officer of CPPE, Muda Yusuf, said the body does not dispute the technical computation of the report.

But Yusuf said the report is at variance when compared with the prices of goods in the last one year.

The CEO said, “The technical computation of the inflation figures of the NBS is not in dispute. However, the reality and severity of the impact of the intense inflationary pressures over the past one year is at variance with the official inflation data.”

“For the basket of goods consumed by most households, prices have jumped by between 30 per cent to 100 per cent over the past one year.

“The same is true of businesses. The pressure of spiking inflation on household budgets has been excruciating and unbearable. Purchasing power has been massively eroded, real incomes have depressed, and the poverty situation has consequently worsened.”

He said that the spiraling inflation dynamics should be elevated to the level of an economic emergency.

“The impact on citizens’ welfare is inestimable. The effect on SMEs is troubling. There is elevated social discontent, driven by increasing joblessness and hunger,” he said.

Yusuf said the country’s inflation figures deserves an immediate policy response that would ameliorate the sufferings of Nigerians.

To tackle inflation, he recommended that taxes and levies on the importation of petroleum products should be suspended to give a respite on the spiking energy cost.

“There should also be deeper stakeholder engagements across sectors to develop an enduring strategy on the way forward,” he added.