The presidency has declared that Nigeria’s inflation would continue to decrease and soon be at a single-digit level.
This claim was made by the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Economic Matters, Tope Fasua, during a Channels Television interview on Tuesday in which he reacted to comments by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on the current economic situation in the country.
Naijaonpoint recalls that Atiku had on Monday, lamented that President Tinubu seems unable to resolve the hunger situation in the country.
Speaking via a statement by his media aide, Paul Ibe, Atiku decried the high level of hunger among poor Nigerians.
However, Fasua on Tuesday, dismissed Atiku’s statement as mere emotional and political talk which is far from the reality on the ground.
The presidential aide stated that the former Vice President is only trying to warm his way into the heart of Nigerians in order to make a stake on the presidency in 2027.
“Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, merely made a political statement which is expected at this time, because he’s trying to see how he can wangle himself back into the presidency, and I don’t comment on political things.
“He doesn’t have to commend the current government for the achievement, but the rest of us just need to stick with the black and white.
“A 20.12 inflation is still large in many quarters because what it says is that prices are still increasing in some quarters, but not as they used to be. It is rebasing. The rebasing came in about six years after it ought to have been done. Our concern should be that our statistics and data should be much more on point and frequent.
“So the rebasing was done, and it gave us the true picture of where we are. So, for every emotional reason, somebody believes that we should still be around 30 per cent. Well, that is their own cup of tea. The most important thing is that the rebasing was done several months back, and what we are seeing is then consistent drop in inflation.
“Inflation does not increase forever, not in any country. We have Ghana next to us, with inflation up to 40 per cent. Today, their inflation is trending down to a single digit.
“Nigeria’s inflation will get to a single digit as well; it’s a matter of time.
“Pakistan’s economy experienced inflation of up to 40 per cent some two years ago. Today, they are battling deflation, which is even a bigger issue because when there is no incentive for people to produce more goods themselves, everything goes down again.
“Nigeria’s inflation will certainly go to a single digit. Besides, that’s not the only positive thing we can see,” Fasua said.
He also commended government economic policies, insisting that they are responsible for the appreciation of the Naira against the Dollar.
On the overall, Fasua said the Tinubu government has brought stability to the Nigerian economy.
“Yesterday, the naira traded at some point, N1,497/$1. For the first time in like eight months, we have clocked the N1,400 region, and that’s remarkable.
“And if we look at why the inflation is reducing, for anybody that cares to know, of course, crude is one of our key drivers of inflation. The exchange rate is also another key driver. The exchange rate has stabilised, and it’s actually via market forces.
“The crude prices are also increasing. A very respected source I respect in the agriculture sector, told me that for the first time in 26 years, this year, we did not have the usual recourse around tomato prices soaring and shortages. Some farmers are even complaining that the government is now crashing food prices to make it affect their businesses negatively.
“Nigerians, including these farmers, are enjoying the drop in food prices because they are much more stable,” he claimed.