How inflation impoverishes Nigerians - NBS

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has validated a World Bank’s report which stated that not less than seven million Nigerians were thrown into poverty in 2020 due to the adverse impact of rising inflation.

Head, Public Affairs and International Relations, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Mr Sunday Ichedi yesterday explained that rising inflation usually makes people poorer.

According to him, since inflation reduces the purchasing power of income, it has the power to induce poverty and make more people poorer.

“The World Bank did the analysis based on statistics. You yourself can do it. If inflation is going up, poverty will be going up. When inflation is going up, the purchasing power of the income will reduce and more people are bound to be poorer,” Ichedi said.

The World Bank had on June 15, 2021, reported that inflation has pushed seven million Nigerians below the poverty line in 2020.

The latest World Bank Nigeria Development Update (NDU) noted that in 2020 the Nigerian economy experienced a shallower contraction of -1.8 per cent as against -3.2 per cent had been projected at the beginning of the pandemic.

“Although the economy started to grow again, prices are increasing rapidly, severely impacting Nigerian households,” World Bank stated.

As a result of this development, rising prices the World Bank said: “have pushed an estimated seven million Nigerians below the poverty line in 2020 alone.”

It said food prices accounted for over 60% of the total increase in inflation.