Between November and December 2020, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released two shocking data. They stated that Nigeria has officially slid into another recession and the inflation rate hit 14.89%. Nevertheless, Nigeria’s official inflation rate is still much higher than the Central Bank’s target range of 6% to 9% while the recession, according to the NBS is the worst since 1987 as the Gross Domestic Product declined by -3.62%.
No doubt, the devaluation of the naira, COVID-19 lockdown, land border closure, bandits–herders attack on farmers, increase in electricity tariff, cost of fuel and Value Added Tax (VAT) have all led to huge production costs leading to a spike in costs of goods and services. The outrageous costs of goods gravely lower the standards of living and dwindles the purchasing power of the vast majority of Nigerians who struggle to survive above the poverty line. And as a result of the unstable naira/dollar exchange rates, most local firms that rely on imported raw materials have had to increase the prices of their products or repackage them in sachets in order to make profits….
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