Traders and buyers in Lagos markets have expressed dismay over soaring prices of food items as Nigeria’s food inflation figures again recorded an upward tick; moving from 19.50% recorded in May to 20.60% in June. According to figures by the National Bureau of Statistics; the composite food index rose to 20.60% in June 2022 on a year-on-year basis; the rate of changes in average price level declined by 1.23% compared to 21.83 in June 2021.
The NBS in a report titled “Consumer Price Index May 2022”; said the rate of changes in food prices compared to the same period last year was higher; due to higher food prices volatility caused by COVID 19. Speaking with our correspondent on the impact of the soaring food prices on business; a trader who identified herself as Gladys said food prices had never recorded the level of instability witnessed in the past year.
A professor of Economics at Covenant University, Jonathan Aremu; said Nigeria’s food inflation reflected the holistic process of food production from harvesting to when the final product hits the marketplace. In the same vein, the Deputy-President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Mr Gabriel Idahosa said that what wasdub as food inflation by the NBS; from critical perspective was a function of “food transport inflation.”
Idahosa said, “There are two main reasons. The first is that all the food transport from the rural; and sub-urban areas where the farms are located to the cities. Trucks that use diesel mostly do the transportation. So, the massive in the price of diesel is translating into a massive increase in the cost of moving the food.
-Punch
