LCCI: Inflation heightens poverty, hurt production

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Commerce (LCCI) has lamented the sustained upward trend in the price level, its significance and impacts on household and business sectors.

Its Director-General, Dr. Chinyere Almona, said apart from eroding purchasing power, it has also led to inventory stockpiles in the manufacturing sector.

She said: “If left unchecked, the high inflation may further constrain production, lead to a steeper rise in poverty figures, frustrate economic growth, and lead to higher unemployment and non-competitive exports, especially in the sub-region. These are not statistics that should be staring at the country in the near term.”

Almona said the Chamber is concerned with the excessive focus on exchange and interest rates management at the expense of inflation.

She canvassed the urgent need for monetary and fiscal authorities to find an effective mix of measures and policies to address inflation, especially staple food prices.

Quoting National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), LCCI said Consumer Price Index (CPI) as at the end of February was 21.91 per cent against 21.82 per cent in January.

Almona said inflation inched upwards by 0.09 percentage points in the period with a 21.67 per cent rise as food prices led the contributors to this unwholesome position, while meat contributed the least at 4.78 per cent.